ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — When a call for help comes in to the city of Rock Island, Michaele Mier is the voice of calm amidst the chaos.
For 35 years, Mier has worked as a 911 dispatcher for the city. Three and a half decades of saying, "Rock Island 911, what's the location of your emergency?"
But now she's saying goodbye.
"It's hard to retire," Mier said, "but it's time to go."
Only 26 years old when she started working at the Rock Island Police Department, Mier spent just a few months working at the front desk. With two young kids at home, she just wanted a job to provide for her husband and family. Soon, she was moved up to RICOMM, the city's dispatch center.
Never did she dream she'd spend the next 35 years there.
"It was the best move I ever made," Mier smiled. "I wasn't sure I could get along with the [other dispatchers]. But I came up anyway. And I found out that the girls I worked with are the best trainers. I wouldn't be here without them."
As a communicative training officer, Mier's job was far more than simply answering the phone.
News 8 was granted exclusive access to RICOMM during Mier's last few days of work. Like a wizard, she easily juggled incoming 911 calls with other tasks. Without batting an eye, she calmly responded to victims calling for help, carefully gathering and recording their information. At the same time, she juggled contacting and dispatching her ambulances and officers.
But the job doesn't end there. Dispatchers at Rock Island are also tasked with data entry for the department.
"Whenever we're not on the phone we're entering data," Mier said. "We enter every missing person, every stolen vehicle, every stole bicycle, every lost driver's license."
All of it is done in a seamless dance, with Mier balancing phone calls, headsets, computers, radios and foot pedals to effortlessly communicate everything.
"It's a very stressful job. We have to be able to multitask," Mier said with a slight smile. "A lot of people get nervous. Don't think they can do it. Don't want to have all these officers' lives in their hands or the public's lives in their hands."
Over her 35 years as a dispatcher, Mier has worked weekends, holidays and second and third shifts. She's kept her cool during natural disasters, shootings and house fires. And she's outlasted many of her colleagues, who often fall prey to the dispatch center's high turnover rate.
"It's just stressful," she said. "You send out the ambulances and you don't want people to ... you want them to make it to the hospital. And the officers, you want their safety. You want them to go home every night."
She's also seen plenty of technology changes over the years.
While we were interviewing her, Mier suddenly opened one of her desk drawers and pulled out several stacks of colored cards.
"This is old school," Mier said.
Before computers, all of the data coming in on emergency calls had to be recorded by hand. Each color card corresponded to a different department - from police to fire to ambulances.
"I've been through three big technology upgrades and I'm not gonna go through another one. It's too much! I'm too old," Mier laughed.
Despite all of the changes she's seen, there is at least one thing that's remained the same.
Sitting at the desk next to Mier was Diana Andrews. For 29 years, the two have worked side by side, with Andrews saying she wouldn't be where she is without Mier.
"There's a reason she's been doing this for 35 years. I mean, she's good at her job," Andrews said. "She's gonna be missed. There's gonna be a hole in our roster for sure. But, you know, I get it when she says that it's time. I gotta respect that."
Working in a dispatch center is a round-the-clock job. RICOMM is open and operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
"We are the heartbeat of the department," Mier said. "We talk to the people first, and then we send the officers out and we send the ambulance out. Otherwise, they wouldn't know where the calls were at."
After so long on the job, Mier has a nearly photographic memory for names, streets and happenings around town. She knows all of her officers by voice - even the new people. And she helps train all who walk into the center.
She also remembers many, many long and stressful shifts.
"My worst call ever was working with a co-worker and I took a 911 call at her house of a drowning. So she had to dispatch her own ambulance to her own house. And we didn't know who it was," Mier said. "I stayed on the phone and gave the husband CPR instructions for the child."
In that case everyone, thankfully, survived. However, it underscores the toll the job takes on its workers.
It's why Mier says she's looking forward to more relaxing days in her retirement. She's also excited to spend more time with her grandchildren and attend more of their sports games and events.
After a 35-year career, there's one thing you can't call into question: Mier loved her coworkers, loved her job and loved serving the citizens of Rock Island.
As we chatted with her, a dangling paper chain above her dispatch computer caught our attention.
"That's my retirement chain! They want me to take one off every day to mark how much time I have left," Mier laughed. "It says 'Michaele's Retirement!'"
Smiling, she reached up and tore off the corresponding chain for that day.
"One more down," she said.
Michaele Mier's last day with the city of Rock Island came on Friday, December 1. From all of us here at WQAD, happy retirement, Michaele! After being at the public's beck and *call* for 35 years, you've earned the right to call it a day.
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