NPD Dispatcher Diane Dutton to retire after 27 years
Thursday, August 25, 2016
On Saturday August 27, 2016 Naugatuck PD Dispatcher Diane Dutton will work her final shift at the Naugatuck Police Department. It will be a bittersweet farewell, but after 27 years of work with any organization, a number of words may come to mind … Fulfilled, thankful, proud, stressed, exhausted, the list goes on. Dispatcher Dutton was hired in August of 1989 and will surely tell you she loves her job, but that the time has come to retire!
When dispatcher Dutton began her employment with the Naugatuck PD, her work space was situated at the old police headquarters located in the basement of town hall. She basically had a console with a couple radios, a typewriter & teletype machine along with a map that outlined the police territories.
Through her years on the job Dispatcher Dutton has seen many improvements in emergency communications including a move in in the mid 1990’s to the current police headquarters building on Spring Street that offered dispatchers much more space. Over time improvements such as advanced radio systems, computerization and the latest change of the states enhanced-911 system have all come into play.
It takes a special person to be a dispatcher, the job requires that you learn to quickly solve problems and to multi-task … and for dispatcher Diane Dutton these skills have become second nature.
For police officers knowing that the dispatchers are there at all times is comforting and over the years Dispatcher Dutton has always done what she needed to do to help both her officers and the citizens of Naugatuck in all types of situations.
Dispatcher Diane Dutton will be sorely missed as she not only possesses a great deal of knowledge and experience but more importantly she is a great person … On behalf of all the members of the Naugtauck PD we wish her the best of luck and good health in the next chapter of her life … Congratulations Diane!!