ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — The dispatcher is behind every police call. When a frantic person is calling for help, it’s the dispatcher that they talk to. He or she has to get the facts, find out what is happening and if there is anything that might put the officer in danger and then calmly and clearly relay that information.

That’s the job of a police dispatcher. That’s the job Raquel “Rachel” Malone has been doing for years.

And that’s not all.

According to Katina Griffin, the jail administrator at the Robertsdale Police Department, “She’s also trained in corrections. She can work any department. It’s a great blessing.”

Police work has been part of Malone’s life for years.

“In high school I was a Junior Police Explorer,” Malone said.

However, after graduation from Foley High School, Malone chose a different path.

“I went into retailing,” she said.

That was fine, but eventually she heard of an opening for a dispatcher in Foley. She applied for and got the job. She transferred over to Robertsdale several years ago.

That meant a lot of training, some of which was provided by APCO (Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International) to learn the ins and outs of dispatch work.

But, Malone’s work day is not just taking calls from the public needing help and getting officers to the scene. Part of Malone's day is spent dog corrections work.

Griffin describes the work as patting down a suspect for weapons, handcuffing the suspect. initiating the booking process and taking photos and prints. While someone is in custody at the jail, a corrections officer makes sure that that person is safe and cared for appropriately. At the time of the interview, there were 13 inmates in the Robertsdale facility, but Griffin says the average is around 20 individuals.

The work can be stressful, especially if an inmate chooses not to listen. The calls that come to dispatch can be heart-wrenching .Malone noted that suicide calls are the most difficult.

According to Griffin, “Rachel has that nurturing tone that a person wants to listen to. They realize that this is someone who cares.”

Someone who cares so much, an inmate made Malone a Mother’s Day card, using colors from a popular candy for the paint.

The ability to “talk anybody down” has come in handy more than once. But Malone is not alone with her charges — should she need help, there are other officers available.

Malone knows the other side of the microphone well. Her husband is a Foley police officer.

That can be a strain, but Griffin says, “Dispatcher females are like a sisterhood.”

That means that When her husband is on a call, Malone knows about it.

“In Foley, there is truly a brotherhood,” said Malone. “they know to call if anything happens. If something happens I know it won’t be because the officers weren't there for him.”