Kerri Burnside, a 911 dispatcher with the Denton County Sheriff’s Office, was named the 2012 Telecommunicator of the Year during the 11th annual Heroes of Denton County awards gala this week.
Burnside was nominated by Sgt. Bonnie Putnam, who singled out Burnside for excellent day-to-day performance. Burnside is known for seeking out additional information while a call is in progress to assist in the response.
As an example, Burnside was watching the map and GPS indicators of responding units during a recent call, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.
“She noticed that two responding units were approaching the same intersection at the same time and immediately notified both officers of their respective locations,” Putnam said in the release. “This information possibly prevented what could have been a serious accident.”
Dispatchers for the Denton County Sheriff’s Office handle calls not only for sheriff’s deputies but 35 other police and fire agencies in the county.
