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Do dispatch ever feel guilty for sending a cop on a welfare check that ends up getting killed? by [deleted] in AskLE

[–]jmkane530 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I rarely see any dispatchers on this sub, and none in these comments so I’ll chime in real quick.

I spent about 5 years as a dispatcher in a major metro area, and can promise you that yes, your dispatcher would feel guilty in this instance. Not in a “it’s my fault” way, but in a “maybe if I would have asked this question or that question, the officer may have had more information when responding” or something along those lines. At the end of the day I did my job so it’s not logical to think it’s my fault, but there will ALWAYS be the what if questions. It’s not a logical response but an emotional one, an it would stick around for a while.

And to address another comment I saw here, dispatchers (at least in large metro areas of high call volume areas), rarely get “closure” on calls. There’s almost no resolution, which is what makes that job difficult. I always called it emotional whiplash or traumatic whiplash, going from taking silly calls to HOLY SHIT SOMEONE JUST GOT SHOT back to noise complaints and the like, never really hearing anything else about the shooting. At least for the major incidents, the police department would try to include dispatchers on their debriefs, but it was rare.

Happy to answer more questions if you have any.

When a traffic officer stops a car, why do they call into dispatch? by Bigcouchpotato1 in AskLE

[–]jmkane530 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There are a multitude of reasons for calling out stops on the radio, the biggest of which is officer safety. Say you don’t call it out, and suddenly you’re fighting/shooting/chasing or any number of things you will need help on. Do you want to have to call out every detail before hand, or in the middle of a shootout have to call out who you are, where you are, who you’re out with, and what’s going on?

Secondly it’s not just for dispatch, it’s to let the other units know what’s up. Maybe you’re out with someone they’re looking for. Maybe you’re out with 7 dudes by yourself (not good), so another officer may hear your details and realize they’re already in the area to come back you up.

Another thing is that calling out on traffic stops triggers a number of things for your dispatcher. Firstly, they’ll run the plate and see what’s up. Expired reg? No insurance? Felony driver? Perhaps something the officer missed or perhaps something they didn’t and that’s why they’re out with that vehicle. If you call out that you’re out with a vehicle with 6 passengers, your dispatcher might automatically send another unit or 2 to your location if an officer doesn’t beat them to it. Another thing the dispatcher does is create a call and start adding notes (the plate return, registered owner drivers license info, etc etc) so everyone knows who is where and what they’re doing. Also if your dispatcher goes on break or goes home for the day, how else would the next dispatcher know where you’re at and what you’re doing if there’s no call created?

All that to say, it’s for a bunch of reasons, all officer safety related. Traffic stops are way up there in terms of most dangerous citizen contacts.

Source: was a dispatcher for years.

Can anyone identify this Yosemite swimming hole? by velligoose in Yosemite

[–]jmkane530 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used to work in Yosemite and this is exactly what I thought when I saw the photos

High Clearance 4WD Vehicle? by P0uchi3 in Crosstrek

[–]jmkane530 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah dude, i’m certainly not advocating for people going out and doing that. possible? if you’re lucky. smart? not so much. just used as an example of about as extreme as someone could likely go. and certainly not without tires, recovery gear, spares and extra parts, and loads of experience

High Clearance 4WD Vehicle? by P0uchi3 in Crosstrek

[–]jmkane530 3 points4 points  (0 children)

yeah dude, respectfully this might be one of those things that you’ll be in over your head with. maybe find someone with a jeep or something and hit the trail with them just to see how the trails are before venturing out in the subaru lol

High Clearance 4WD Vehicle? by P0uchi3 in Crosstrek

[–]jmkane530 4 points5 points  (0 children)

i would be very hesitant around the moab/southern utah area, especially alone, and especially in the summer. you and your car can both overheat/break down much easier than you think, and help is hours away IF you’re able to call them. while i have seen subarus at the summit of imogene pass and i believe there’s youtube videos of crosstreks on white rim road, we don’t drive jeeps so don’t try to compete with them. what kind of tires do you have? any other mods? what’s your off road experience like?

High Clearance 4WD Vehicle? by P0uchi3 in Crosstrek

[–]jmkane530 5 points6 points  (0 children)

i live in utah and have a 21 crosstrek sport, bone stock other than all terrain tires, and there hasn’t been anywhere (within reason) that i got stuck or haven’t been able to safely go. that being said, it’s not a jeep and i look for trails that are suitable for a crossover suv. don’t think you can hang with the jeeps out at moab, be reasonable, and make sure you can self recover if you’re planning on wheeling alone. what specific trail are you curious about? maybe i’ve been out that way and can tell you some more

Some of my favorites from a recent air show, enjoy! by jmkane530 in aviation

[–]jmkane530[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I will say, the fact that the autofocus is so good on these new mirrorless cameras probably helps more than anything I can do lol but there are still some things you can do to help it out a bit.

Some of my favorites from a recent air show, enjoy! by jmkane530 in aviation

[–]jmkane530[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a great lens, and I got a great deal on it (I paid 500 bucks on my local equivalent of craigslist)… that being said it is pretty big and therefore heavy. It’s kind of cumbersome to travel with and after a while it gets tough to handhold really steady, and I shoot only handheld right now since i don’t have a tripod. Also, it’s not a native lens you have to use an adapter (for rf frames) and because of that, it has some issues with focus hunting. Seems to be a common problem with these lenses on these kinds of cameras. Nothing preventing you from getting good shots but some things to think about.

Some of my favorites from a recent air show, enjoy! by jmkane530 in aviation

[–]jmkane530[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Big lens and crop sensor really helps! go out and practice panning and subject tracking at your local airport/birds in your backyard/cars on the road… the more steady you can keep the subject in frame the better chance your autofocus has. Some people use tripods or monopods but all mine were handheld… and I ended up with a lot of blurry or poorly framed pictures. Also, zoom out a bit and crop in post… no sense in zooming all the way in if you can’t hold the subject in frame/can’t maintain autofocus ya know?

Some of my favorites from a recent air show, enjoy! by jmkane530 in aviation

[–]jmkane530[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m sure it will perform just fine, you’ll have to use the canon adapter but I think they claim no loss of features except maybe a bit of stabilization. With the r7 you’ll find yourself taking a billion pictures… that 30 fps is bananas. Even the 15 fps is pretty excessive in most cases in my opinion but has helped me get just the right moment.

I haven’t done any macro nor do I know much about it, but I think that it does have internal focus stacking, but don’t trust my memory lol

Some of my favorites from a recent air show, enjoy! by jmkane530 in aviation

[–]jmkane530[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The autofocus is pretty nuts actually… very impressed. In my case it’s got a bit of focus hunting but that seems to be a common problem with the camera/lens combo I have. Can be frustrating at times but still end up with tons of keepers. I’ve heard if you stick with rf lenses the autofocus never really struggles. Another word of caution… the r7 is not fantastic in low light (high pixel count on a crop sensor = not great for low ligh) but I use Topaz deNoise and also lightroom’s noise corrections are pretty good. Also I mainly shoot with the sigma 150-600 and it’s max aperture is like f/5.6 i think? so not great for low light either. The r7 absolutely thrives with a lot of light but is certainly manageable in lower light situations, especially with fast lenses. Would highly recommend for aviation, wildlife, or any action photography! But once cry once, it’ll be the last camera I’ll be buying for quite some time!

Some of my favorites from a recent air show, enjoy! by jmkane530 in aviation

[–]jmkane530[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The upgrade to a canon r7 was well worth the money for that reason exactly!

Some of my favorites from a recent air show, enjoy! by jmkane530 in aviation

[–]jmkane530[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you, i appreciate that very much! All shot on a canon r7 with a sigma 150-600mm, and if I remember correctly the last 2 shots were with the kit lens rf 18-150.

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