Meet Oakland Police Dispatcher Kate Foster

When Kate Foster, who was an emergency medical technician, set out in search of a steady paycheck in 1998, her father alerted her to a police dispatcher job opening in Oakland.

Foster’s true dream was to pursue a career in athletic training.

“I wanted to be outside, I didn’t want to be at a desk and wear a uniform,” she said.

Fast-forward 21 years, and you’ll see Foster still diligently doing her dispatcher job at the Oakland Police Department.

The borough police officers are not just her co-workers, Foster said, “they’re my family.”

“I worry about these guys,” Foster said. “My job, at the end of the day, is to make sure everyone gets home safe.”

Foster, who is 42, is one of two women in the department, but she said the police officers treat her as an equal.

“I like the fact that they treat me like one of the guys,” she said. “I don’t want to be treated differently. We’ve got each other’s backs.”

Her parents set an example of serving the community. Her father was a police dispatcher in Ringwood, where Foster grew up and still lives. Her mother was an emergency medical technician. Her father decided to become an EMT after seeing how much they helped him when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer almost 20 years ago.

“They were wonderful to him,” Foster said, recalling how they accommodated him, adapting his duties as he grew more ill.

Foster was somewhat familiar with Oakland when she landed the dispatcher job.

“I remember when there was a movie theater where the Shoprite is, and the diner that used to be where Portobello is,” she said.

Still, when she got the borough job, “I had to learn everything. I had to learn where the [different] streets were.”

Foster relishes the small-town feel of Oakland.

“I don’t like the big city,” she said. “I’d rather be in the woods.”

“I like how well everyone knows one another,” she said. Sometimes, when a phone number appears on the switchboard, Foster knows the home to which it is attached.

That provides her with the background knowledge that often can be helpful in sending emergency responders to the location.

"I've been on CPR calls that [resulted in] 'saves,' and helped out with [calls about] people who were missing -- people who have Alzheimer's and wandered away."

If it's about someone who has gone missing before, Foster may suggest looking at particular locations.

While holding down her full-time job, Foster pursued a bachelor's degree on a part-time basis at Ramapo College. She majored in Law & Society with a minor in psychology. 

"The major is basically a pre-law degree," Foster said. "I took classes that friends who went through law school didn’t even have to take. I had to brief court cases, learn legal history, criminal law, juvenile justice, [it was] very in depth and a fantastic education."

What might surprise the public to know about her job?

Foster responds that people sometimes underestimate all that is involved in the job of a dispatcher.

At any given moment, for example, there are several radios to monitor, multiple calls coming in, people walking into the station with questions or needing assistance, among other things.

People have walked in saying they are hurt or feel ill, and while they wait for paramedics to arrive, Foster has applied her EMT training to help them.

She likes to unwind by exercising often during the week, honing her knowledge of genealogy and reading a variety of books that ranges from thrillers to non-fiction.

“I love to read everything,” Foster said.

One of her favorite authors, she said, is Steve Berry, who writes historical thrillers.

"Steve Berry will go through a whole, big book and at the end he says ‘This is what is real, and this is what I made up.’”

What will be her second act?

Foster says that maybe someday she will return to college and get a degree in physical therapy.

“That’s the ultimate goal,” she said, adding about her dispatcher job and her family of police officers, “I will miss it.”