When someone in the City of Long Beach needs help, they often dial 911. Ready to pick up that call call is Eileen DiBari, a police dispatcher for the Long Beach Police Department who has always wanted to help others.
DiBari, 42, is the second-longest-tenured dispatcher in LBPD and has fulfilled the role since she was 22 years old. She took the civil service test in 2004 and went to paramedic school before joining the police department in 2006.
Beginning in 2001, DiBari has also volunteered at the Long Beach Fire Department, including a 17-year stint in the Rescue Company, where she served as a lieutenant for a few years. She has also worked as an EMT and lifeguard.
“Eileen is very dedicated to this city,” Police Commissioner Richard DePalma said. “She’s a fantastic employee and, more importantly, a fantastic person.”
DiBari grew up in the West End and said becoming a firefighter in her community exposed her to different situations, noting the experience helped her build a thick skin and taught her how to keep calm. “It helped me understand how to get the information I needed to get the job done,” she said.
Like all dispatchers, DiBari is responsible for relaying information she gathers from verbal interactions with callers and police officers in need of assistance. She also assists with tasks such as running license plates and reviewing forms of identification. Dispatchers are assisted by Desk Sergeants, a role which DePalma served in from 2008 to 2019.
The two would work together periodically, and DePalma said he would often lean on her experience as a firefighter. He noted DiBari’s calm demeanor and professionalism during stressful situations as her greatest strength.
When she’s not dispatching, DiBari works with police officers in the department, teaching them how to perform CPR and utilize an AED. She said that it’s a way for her to use her knowledge to help fellow members of the department, especially when they’re the first ones at the scene — in someone’s time of need.
When Irish Day comes to town in October, DiBari often greets first responders who participate in the Wedge — a coordinated way to get people off the street so that it can reopen to drivers — on New York Avenue, with freshly baked cookies. Officers say it’s a moment they look forward to each year.
“Irish day can be a tough day for the officers,” DiBari said. “It’s a nice treat at the end of the day.”
On Feb. 7, DiBari was honored at the Second Annual Law and Order Night for her service. The night of recognition, led by the American Legion Post 972 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1384, highlighted first responders in the community for their excellence and bravery.
“Dispatchers are vital to the first responder world,” DePalma said. “They are the unsung heroes, and we can’t do our job effectively without them.”
