The voice on the 911 line; longtime Hope Police dispatcher retires

HOPE, AR — Jerry Johnson retired on Thursday after 30-plus years on one job at the center of  the daily operations of local law enforcement, and her co-workers and friends threw her a farewell bash at Hope City Hall.

Johnson was also presented a plaque by Hope Mayor Dennis Ramsey and a badge by Police Chief J. R. Wilson.

She had worked as a police dispatcher for the Hope Police Department and the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office since November 14, 1980

“I have lived here all of my life, graduating from Hope High School in 1973,” Johnson said. “The police chief at that time was Harvey Fullerton. I have also worked with police chiefs Richard Thomas, James Purtle,  interim chief James Singleton, and the present chief, J. R. Wilson.

“I took the good advice of Captain Ward of the police department when he told me a long time ago that, ‘We are all human, we all do the same things. There is not one race above the other. I took that to heart and never forgot it,” she said. “I have so many good memories, I can’t list them all. There are too many of them; I liked all of it because it was something different every day. I met a variety of people from a variety of cultures.”

There were good days and bad, she said.
“Some of the bad memories were when a person’s loved one was passing and they were trying to get help and you couldn’t do anything but get them help,” she said. “Also, when people who need assistance couldn’t tell you where they were.

“People really need to be aware what highway they are traveling and what direction they are going,” she said. “When a person calls 911, they need to try to give an exact location, so we, as dispatchers, can help them as fast as we can. “People need to put addresses on their homes so they can get help,” Johnson said.
Johnson said that she handled all calls like they were emergencies.

“I feel like that if the person had taken the time to dial 911, they have a problem and I was there to help,” she said. “When we dispatched for the county in 1993 or ’94, I got out in my own vehicle with a map and learned the majority of the roads in Hempstead County.

“When I would get a call I wasn’t familiar with, I’d go home after work and go out in my car and find that location. I wanted to know and familiarize myself with where that caller was needing help.”

When Johnson first started as a dispatcher, she worked the 5:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. shift.
“After two years, we began rotating shifts, and when it came time to pick shifts, I was so used to mornings, I just stayed on that shift,” Johnson said. “I was determined to learn my job and I did learn and I think I did well.”    Johnson was the first black female to work for the City for 30 years.

“Hope has really changed since I was a little girl growing up here,” she said. “I remember when the Tyson Feed Mill on Compress Street was in the county and then it expanded just past the cemetery and now it is on the other side of Smith Road off of Hazel. I aso remember taking trains from Hope to different places.”

Fast forward to the present and her retiring.
“The hardest thing for me to do was to write my retirement letter,” she said. “I tried to type it, but the tears kept flowing, so I finally asked my sister if she could type it up, and she did.

“It’s like a big family at the Hope Police Department. When I started to train young people whose fathers and mothers I trained, it was time to go,” she said. “It was a job I grew to love over the years. My advice to young people coming up is to make sure the job you have has a good benefits package, including retirement.”

Jerry’s plans for retirement include fishing, and buying a camper and going.

“I enjoy sewing and cooking, and walking,” she said. “I have no plans for work at all,” she said with a grin. “I’ve got to get used to not going to work. I’ve gotten up at 4 a.m when I worked for so many years. I’m going to catch up on my rest.”

Read the story here.

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