By Samantha Gray

The APCO Young Professionals Taskforce recognizes Tim Stencel as this quarter’s young professional spotlight. Tim is the weather coordinator, EMA liaison and assistant operations manager for Northwest Central Dispatch, located in Arlington Heights, Illinois. “I’m passionate about all things weather and love a good storm,” he says. He shares his busy life with his wife of six-and-a-half years, Karen, and his two beautiful daughters Riley (4) and Claire (2 months).

Tim graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a degree in aviation flight and management. While attending the university, he worked in their student patrol and became interested in the field of law enforcement. Eight months after graduation, Tim was hired by NWCD, with hopes of becoming a police officer in the future. However the more time he spent dispatching, the more he fell in love with the job and knew it was his calling.

While not spending time with family or admiring mother nature, Tim can be found either call-taking or dispatching for an agency that handles eleven police and eleven fire agencies. On some nights Tim gets to enjoy the fun job of supervising his peers, but much prefers to be on the floor in the chaos, or maybe we should call it the dispatch storm. He continues to work hard and strive for excellence in hopes of one day becoming an operations manager at the center. To obtain that, Tim is currently completing APCO’s RPL Program.

Mentorship is something Tim has expressed as being an essential part of growing this industry and maintaining excellence, especially with young professionals. Using the skills and knowledge of experienced dispatchers can only help build and motivate those that are younger or newer. Tim is excited about the opportunity to start training new employees next year and the fact that he can use this as a stepping stone of mentorship. He wants to teach them how to navigate the many dynamic aspects of this job.

To the new guys entering this amazing field, Tim wanted you to know to never be afraid to ask questions, as we all continue to learn in this career. Seek advice from co-workers if struggles arise. Communicate with your family; they are your grounding, and nothing is better than an understanding that your family understands what you’re feeling and can help you through this type of work.

The biggest thing Tim wants those in public safety communications to know is that we are first responders and that mental health services are always available. We may not be the ones that actually go out to the scene of calls, but we suffer many of the same mental health problems as police, fire and EMTs. He noted during his interview his belief that burnout and PTSD are big factors in the nationwide crisis of telecommunicator shortages.

Want to recommend someone you know to be a Young Professional Spotlight?  Just complete this online form.