Joined by Farmington Hills City Council, rear, and Police Chief John Piggott, the dispatch team is honored during Nation Public Safety Communicators Week. Pictured are Catherine Mason, lower row, second left, as well as Jennifer Robertson and Tony Stacer.
By: Gena Johnson | Farmington Press | Published May 4, 2026
FARMINGTON HILLS — Farmington Hills Mayor Theresa Rich, along with her peers on the City Council, proclaimed April 12-16 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in Farmington Hills, honoring the city’s dispatchers with a proclamation and plaque at the meeting April 13.
Councilman Bill Dwyer, whose career in law enforcement spanned six decades, read the proclamation.
“(Dispatchers) have the most difficult job there is,” Dwyer said. “They are on the front line. They may not be on the road, but they are on the front line, just like police (officers) and fire(fighters). The decisions they make are split-second decisions and save lives.”
The public will never know how difficult their job is, he added, but he said he knows it, having headed the narcotics division at the Detroit Police Department, served as police chief for Farmington Hills for 23 years, and police commissioner in Warren.
On March 12, the day a Hezbollah terrorist attacked Temple Israel located at 5725 Walnut Lake Road in West Bloomfield, the Farmington Hills dispatchers backed up all the service calls for the West Bloomfield Police Department in addition to taking their own calls. They were responsible for two large jurisdictions, said Farmington Hills Police Capt. John Piggott.
The telecommunicators are the first voice that 911 callers hear, dispensing critical information to the caller, as well as to the police and other first responders who go out on calls.
The dispatchers and telecommunicators help save countless lives, Dwyer said.
“When you see police cars and fire trucks show up, you don’t know the chaos there is in the dispatch center that they are managing,” Piggott said. “I was really proud how they answered the call that day, and they do it every single day.”
According to Piggott, each level of the dispatch team was represented to receive the proclamation and plaque, including Tony Stacer, who works the radio broadcast; Catherine Mason, the communications supervisor; and Jennifer Robertson, the communications section manager.
“We are truly honored to stand here today during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week to accept the proclamation,” said Stacer.
“This recognition goes to every dispatcher who takes a deep breath before answering the next call and who has carried the weight of someone else’s emergency with compassion and strength,” Stacer continued. “What we do isn’t always seen, but it matters.”