The September Communications Officer of the Month goes to a veteran of our 911 Center and Bruce Bullington.
CO Bullington has pretty much heard and seen it all in his 36 years at DEC. He also is a member of the Department's Critical Incident Support Management Team and is a Communications Training Officer. Just last month he handled more than 900 calls! That averages out to almost five million calls during his career.
All of these years of training and experience were called upon recently when CO Bullington handled a call from a man threatening suicide.
The man said he was depressed and had a loaded gun to his head. CO Bullington, as always, maintained a calm demeanor and tried to get the man to reveal his location. The man knew he was Downtown outside a building but couldn't provide an address. He then said he saw a sign for a nearby restaurant and that's all CO Bullington needed. He quickly began directing officers and emergency personnel to that area.
As units made their way to the location, CO Bullington kept the man talking. They covered everything from family to NASCAR. CO Bullington gave the man his first name to make the conversation more personal. It was obvious the man was in distress and mostly just needed someone to talk to.
CO Bullington kept the man on the line until officers arrived and the man said he was surrendering to police.
After 18 minutes and 36 seconds, the incident came to a peaceful resolution. Thanks to CO Bullington, what could have been a tragic and potentially fatal situation for the man and any of the onlookers attempting to help him was over and everyone was safe. Great job, CO Bullington!
Previous Communication Officers of the Month
