Newspaper ad 16 years ago leads to career — and honors
PBSO communication supervisor Pritchard earns top award.
After nearly 16 years of answering oftentimes incoherent calls for help, Palm Beach Count y Sheriff ’s Office Communication Supervisor Regina Pritchard can tell when something is off.
And when Broward Count y Sheriff ’s officials asked Pritchard to help with a welfare check at two locations in the southern part of Palm Beach County, she knew something wasn’t right.
Turns out the woman’s mother had been killed, and offic ials weren’t sure whether the daughter was another victim or a suspect.
Pritchard’s c autious hesitation helped earn her the sheriff ’s office’s 2017 Communication Officer of the Year Award. At a ceremony this past week, Pritchard shied from the attention while expressing gratitude toward the coworkers she has come to regard as family.
Pritchard, a mother of three, spotted an ad in a newspaper years ago advertising a job with the sheriff ’s office. It was with the communication office, and she thought she’d give it a try.
July will be 16 years in the job, answering desperate calls from mothers whose children have committed suicide or haven’t been seen in days and calming panicked shooting witnesses enough to gather information.
“Behind the phone, the only help we can give is calling a deputy, or calling an ambulance,” she said. “And once deputies arrive, we’re done. We’re on to the next call ... the next screaming mother.”
Sometimes Pritchard will sneak in a call to Teri Barbera, public information officer at the sheriff ’s office, to find out how calls end.
“I t means a l o t t o b e h o n - ored,” Pritchard said. “I didn’t really think it would, though, it’s just what you do every day.”