Naperville telecommunicator Mike Rafferty is retiring after 46 years of answering the call of duty (quite literally).
“I’ve really enjoyed being able to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Rafferty.
What is a telecommunicator?
While known by the public as a dispatcher, Rafferty is part of a team of highly trained telecommunicators who work in the city’s Emergency Communications Center (ECC). Telecommunicators dispatch police to approximately 70,000 calls for service, and the fire department to over 18,000 fire or EMS incidents each year.
“He is a critical part in our community’s safety because the first person that somebody deals with when they’re in crisis with our police and fire is our emergency communications personnel,” said Naperville Police Department Chief Jason Arres.
Rafferty’s roots in public service
Rafferty started as a paid on-call firefighter in 1978 for the city of Naperville, a dream come true for him, until he was asked to work as a dispatcher for the Naperville Police Department…