Photo from left to right:
911 Coordinator Junior Ferrante, Telecommunicator Gabby Gardner, Telecommunicator Stephanie Melendez, Telecommunicator Melissa Lucciola, Dispatch Supervisor Tommy Lynn, Mayor Jimmy Davis, Police Chief Robert Geisler, and Public Safety Director Robert Kubert

Each year, the second week of April honors the telecommunicators in the public safety community. The telecommunicators staff the telephones and handle emergency dispatch for police departments, fire departments, and emergency medical services (EMS). National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is sponsored by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officers (APCO) International. The City of Bayonne’s Department of Public Safety maintains a Communications Center to answer and process emergency and non-emergency calls for service. The Comm Center is a State of New Jersey-certified Public Service Answering Point (PSAP), which means that it has direct access to the State 9-1-1 Emergency Telephone Network. During calendar year 2024, the Bayonne Comm Center received 91,086 emergency calls for service. Of those, 25,485 were processed through 9-1-1. The most important function that any public safety telecommunicator can provide is a verification of the location of the request for emergency aid. The public safety telecommunicator has a responsibility to determine the location of an incident, the nature of the incident, and the priority of the response. Priorities can be broken down into three categories: 1) emergency response, 2) non-emergency response, or 3) non-emergency non-response. Bayonne has a state-of-the-art Communications Center that utilizes the latest technology available. This week, we salute the telecommunicators who use that technology to help save lives and protect our community every day.

Mayor Jimmy Davis issued a proclamation to honor Bayonne’s Telecommunicators/Dispatchers. Public Safety Director Robert Kubert stated, “The Emergency Services Dispatchers are an integral component of the Department of Public Safety’s ability to efficiently and professionally serve the community in their time of need, and to maintain the safe environment Bayonne’s residents and visitors have become accustomed to. They are truly the unsung heroes of the Public Safety Department.”

Bayonne OEM Director & 911 Coordinator Junior Ferrante stated, “We have special people who are our FIRST first responders working in the Bayonne Public Safety Telecommunications Department, as well as McCabe Ambulance EMS, who handle our medical calls for help. They all deserve this recognition.”