Longtime Henderson dispatcher hangs up after 25 years fielding 911 calls

One might say that Christine Watts found her calling in dispatch.

Watts, 60, retired from the Henderson Police Department in mid-July after 25 years fielding 911 and 311 calls there.

"It's sad to see her go," said Jason Gacek, her former colleague. "When I first started 13 years ago now, she was always the most welcoming by far. She always stood out to me as one of the most helpful dispatchers in my career. I worked for five different departments in my career."

Watts' first day on the job in Henderson was May 7, 1990.

"We were in an old building where the current jail and city courthouse stand today (at 243 Water St.), and in 1993, they built us the current building at 223 Lead St.," she said. "I believe the population of Henderson was only about 80,000 people."

The city's population has since grown to more than 286,000 people.

Watts was a dispatcher for seven years in Junction, Colo., before getting hired in Henderson, where she worked from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. four times a week.

"I loved dispatch," she said. "You get to know everything that's going on without being out in the elements or seeing it or hearing it."

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Watts was still wondering about which direction she should take after she earned an associate's degree in police science. Then she took a summer course in fingerprint classification and latent fingerprinting, taught by a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department.

"I was really good at it, and he was like, 'You should try this out (professionally),' " Watts said.

She then got hired at the LAPD as a fingerprint classifier but disliked the local environment.

"I was good at it, but I hated working in downtown LA, so I quit after three weeks," she said. "Six weeks later, I got a phone call from a guy at the Beverly Hills PD, saying he had gotten a call from my old teacher and wanted to know if I wanted to come in and interview to be a crime lab technician. I got hired on. I basically would go to crime scenes and dust for fingerprints and take crime scene photos. I was there a year and a half."

While there, she met her ex-husband, who was a jailer with the department. The couple eventually moved to Junction, where Watts applied unsuccessfully for another crime lab position.

"And the only other opening at the time was dispatch," she said. "So I got hired as dispatch and loved it. The crime lab position opened again about a year later, and I didn't want it."

Watts said one of the biggest changes she has seen in dispatch over the years involves cellphone use.

"In the past, if there was a high-profile incident like a bad accident, only a few people would call," she said. "Today, we get overloaded."

She said police also have a tougher time pinpointing callers. Henderson police dispatchers receive up to 1,000 calls daily, handling police, fire, medical and 311 calls. The phone system at the department has an automated number displayer and an automated location indicator.

"But with the advent of the cellphone, all we get is a latitude and a longitude," Watts said. "We don't know where you are."

Watts said many seniors keep their landline phones because they know emergency officials can see their exact location.

Aside from fielding calls, Watts said she enjoyed attending community events to educate residents about 911 and 311.

"She loved working with the citizens and helping citizens," Gacek said. "She did the (police) citizens' academy a lot, and she would always be the one who would talk about 911."

Watts said residents can remember a simple rule as far as which number to call when contacting police.

"Unless it's in progress or immediate life and death, call 311," she said.

— To reach Henderson View reporter Cassandra Keenan, email her at ckeenan@viewnews.com or call 702-383-0278. Find her on Twitter: @CassandraKNews.