How To Become A Police Radio Dispatcher: What It Is and Career Path

What is a police radio dispatcher and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a police radio dispatcher. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.45 an hour? That's $40,450 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePolice Radio DispatcherUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,450

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.72%

Asian 0.90%

Black or African American 9.14%

Hispanic or Latino 11.11%

Unknown 6.00%

White 72.13%

Gender

female 75.86%

male 24.14%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

4.9

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.7

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a police radio dispatcher

Explore police radio dispatcher education requirements

Most common police radio dispatcher degrees

Bachelor's

41.9 %

Associate

25.8 %

High School Diploma

17.7 %

Start to develop specific police radio dispatcher skills

Skills	Percentages
Computer Aided Dispatch	24.44%
CAD	14.44%
Police Radio	12.82%
Public Safety	10.08%
Non-Emergency Calls	7.03%

Complete relevant police radio dispatcher training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New police radio dispatchers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a police radio dispatcher based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real police radio dispatcher resumes.

Research police radio dispatcher duties and responsibilities

Require to process emergency and non-emergency calls while listening, communicating, and speaking effectively with units on patrol.
Certify by APCO as a nationally recognize emergency dispatcher.

Prepare your police radio dispatcher resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your police radio dispatcher resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a police radio dispatcher resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Police Radio Dispatcher Resume templates

Build a professional Police Radio Dispatcher resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Police Radio Dispatcher resume.