Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1

2??0??2??4?? was a big year for Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1! Our Annual Report is out now. Dive into the stats, stories, and successes from the past year. View it here: https://lnkd.in/gh5eP5DQ

We are saddened to report that retired Systems Unit Supervisor Ben Hatheway passed away on August 21, 2024. We'd like to share a little about Ben and his many contributions to SCR9-1-1, with an excerpt from a message we received from the agency's first General Manager, Mike McDougall. Ben was hired in 1994, the third employee of the newly formed Joint Powers Authority. He was instrumental in the design and implementation of the County's first computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. Other than the facility itself, CAD was the agency's largest capital expense. Ben successfully worked with the software vendor, the agency's Operations team, the G.M., and the public safety users to deliver a top notch system that served the agency well for years after Ben's retirement in 2005. Ben came to SCR9-1-1 from the Costa Mesa Police Department where he was one of two technicians and was responsible for their CAD system. When Mike traveled to Costa Mesa PD as part of the recruiting process, he was very impressed by Ben's neat and orderly work space and the fact that the department had named its mainframe computer after him. Later, Ben confessed that he was not quite as organized and neat as he may have appeared, having negotiated a deal with his extremely organized co-technician to clean up his work spaces prior to Mike's arrival. Mike solved this problem by appointing then-Dispatcher Scotty Douglass to work in the Systems Unit with Ben as his assistant, a.k.a. "little buddy". This solution worked well for both Ben and Scotty, giving Ben a clean-up crew and Scotty a mentor. (Of course, the "little buddy" ended up taking over Systems after Ben's retirement and becoming the agency's second G.M. before moving on to oversee municipal governments in two states.) Ben had a "love-hate" relationship with challenges at work. He hated when they rose up but he loved it when he was able to meet and successfully overcome those challenges. Mike learned to present Ben with challenges slowly and delicately, and always with plenty of advance notice and a timeline. The timeline was always generous, because Mike knew Ben would complete the job much, much earlier, often working non-stop until it was resolved. In recent years, as health problems arose, Ben took pride in his start-up role with the agency. Recently, after the agency sent its retirees pins and honorary badges, Ben called Mike to express his appreciation for the opportunity to serve SCR9-1-1 and the citizens and public safety users of Santa Cruz County. When Ben's wife Diana called to share the news of his passing, she told Mike that Ben had placed his retiree badge prominently in a location where he could always see it from his chair. Rest in peace, Ben. Thank you for the lasting legacy of technical excellence and diligent problem-solving.

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