WINDHAM – Originally not planning to make the move to the county-run system with the rest of Windham’s police and fire dispatchers, longtime dispatcher John Peruzzi has changed his mind.

Despite a “severe” pay cut, Peruzzi’s moving with his fellow dispatchers to the Cumberland County Regional Communications Center in mid-August.

Peruzzi, a Portland native but longtime Bridgton resident, has seen it all in his many years in the dispatcher’s hot seat. In dispatch, as he says, it’s either quiet or it’s “sheer terror.” There’s really no happy medium.

But, to Windham’s 911 callers, Peruzzi has been a voice of calm helping to guide first responders to their aid. And to the men and women wearing the uniforms, his quick thinking helps them gauge a situation even before they arrive.

Peruzzi sat down with the Lakes Region Weekly recently to recount his three decades of service to the town of Windham and tell readers what he’s looking forward to – and also what he’ll miss – regarding the upcoming move to county.

Q: How long have you been a Windham dispatcher?

A: Thirty-one-plus years. I came here April 17 or 18, 1979. At the time there were six total patrolmen and four dispatchers. The department started in 1976, and while I’m not one of the original dispatchers I’m pretty close to it.

Q: Any of the originals still here?

A: The only people who are still here when I started are Chief Rick Lewsen and Lt. Dave DeGruchy. Everybody else has gone. The chief was one of the original four patrol people, and he was a sergeant. He came over from Cumberland County. He was a Cumberland County contract deputy in the area. I believe Dave came from a department up north. I actually went to school with Dave at what was then SMVTI (Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, now Southern Maine Community College). He and I were in the same class for law enforcement, and Rick was a year ahead of us.

Q: How did you get into dispatching?

A: I got into (law enforcement) back in 1976, for the sheriff’s department in what they called the CETA program, the Continuing Education Training Act. I did a little patrol, a little dispatch, and I found out I really like doing the dispatch. It’s fun, but yes, it can be very stressful at time. I tell new recruits that it’s 20 percent sheer terror and 80 percent boredom. That’s the way it works around here. You either go from nice and steady but then that phone rings.

Q: Do you sometimes regret choosing a highly stressful career?

A: There are those days when I go home, usually after a stressful day, and say, “Why did I do this?” I could have very easily done something else. But after 31 years, I still enjoy doing it.

Q: You must enjoy helping people in distress.

A: Yes, dispatchers are the first ones on the scene. We are the first ones there. People in distress, there are all types. You have the screamer who you’ve got to try to calm down and get the information from. And then you’ve got the people, and these really bother me sometimes, who are very calm, and you start wondering what else is going on that you don’t know about. And you start interrogating people, because like I said, we are the first ones on the scene. And my thing, from day one is when my guys come on the shift, my patrol people or my firefighters, I want them all to go home that night.

Q: You must feel a real camaraderie with the patrol officers.

A: After suicides or fatal accidents, or really anything that was really stressful for the guys, you try to help each other. They come in and try to fill in the blank that you don’t know about. And at the same time, you say, here I am, someone you can talk to. So in that way, you help each other.

Q: You may in the police station, but you feel like you’re out there.

A: Right. You have to be. If you don’t have that empathy, you can’t be a dispatcher. You’ve got to be able to multi-task, and think on your feet. If you can’t do those things, then sorry, this isn’t for you. And I’ve seen a lot of people wash out because of that.

Q: What was it like starting out?

A: Training back in 1979 consisted of two weeks, 84 hours. And it was on-the-job training. And it was: here’s a radio, here’s what you do, here’s a radio log, this is what you fill in, at 9 p.m. you blow the whistles for North Windham, and make sure you keep the guys safe.

Q: Did you have a map?

A: We had a map on the wall. You had to look at the map on the wall. But Windham back then was only 5,000 people. On Route 302, there was no shopping district. I started back when the only business in North Windham was North Windham Shopping Center. And that was it. There was no Shaw’s, no Hannaford, no Windham Mall, none of that. $134.50 a week I started with for a 42-hour work week.

Q: So you’ve seen Windham change?

A: I’m seen Windham change dramatically. Population growth is unbelievable. I don’t think anybody envisioned anything like the North Windham Shopping District.

Q: Are most of your calls up in the shopping district?

A: Still, yeah. We have people patrolling every area, but probably 75 percent of our calls are in North Windham. It has to be. That’s where most people are congregated.

Q: Do most people call on their cell phones?

A: Yes. There are times when I wish we never had cell phones. But you have to respond to every call. And you have to treat every call like it’s important.

Q: Are you going to be moving over to Cumberland County in the upcoming merger?

A: My original answer to that was no, I would not move there. I am going for necessity reasons. I still have a house, car payments. I’ve talked to Director Bill Holmes. He and I go way back. He was a dispatcher at county when I was here. He knows I’m taking a severe cut in pay, about $200 a week.

Q: That’s a lot.

A: But, the thing is, I still want to do the job, and I will continue to give the county 110 percent. There are great people down there. I was down there once and I sat with them for about five hours. You can tell they work well together and that’s all that’s important for me. What’s done is done. We are moving to another chapter. I’m kind of looking forward to it. There are things they do differently that I’m going to have to learn. And there are things I’m sure they’ll pick off of me, after 31 years, that I’ve learned. I have nothing bad to say about them. I think they’re a wonderful group. I can’t wait to get down there.

Q: Are you looking forward to dispatching for other communities?

A: I am. Again, I know some of the areas. I grew up in Portland. I’ve lived in Bridgton for over 30 years. I travel back and forth. I’ve taken Route 114, I’ve taken them all, so I know a little bit about a lot of the towns. Sitting down at a different dispatch desk is going to be a very interesting experience. It’ll be different to hear the different dispatchers.

Q: Do you feel, after 31 years, that you need a new challenge?

A: Yeah, that’s part of it. I mean, I’m set in my ways, and here’s a whole new opportunity out there. And whether I can do it or not, yeah, that’s sitting in the back of my mind. I’m not 20-something years old anymore. I’m 54.

Q: So, I can’t leave without asking: What was your strangest call?

A: My number one craziest call happened 10 years ago, and it involved a moose. We’d been hearing about this moose every day running across Route 302 near Wal-Mart and Manginos (now The Grotto). I was working one Saturday night and sure enough, here come the moose calls. The moose looked into some of the businesses up there, and then I get a call from someone at McDonalds saying the moose just went through the drive-thru. And I lost it. I tried to maintain professionalism, but I didn’t. I said, “Did he order fries?” And the poor girl just stops and goes, “No.” And so I said, “OK, which way did he go?” That’s the funniest call I ever had.

Q: What’s the scariest call you ever got?

A: Many, many years ago, a gentleman was threatening suicide and the wife was on the phone with me, and the man pulled the trigger. He lived, but to hear that and to hear the bang, it took me a long time after that. And that was before they did any interactions. But every time I came in for a while after that, I kind of jumped any time the phone rang just waiting for another call like that.

Q: Is crime getting worse or better in Windham?

A: Crime is worse. When I started here, the occasional fight, the party, those were the serious crimes. Portland had all the bad stuff. Now, it’s gravitated out toward Windham. You can see the sprawl heading out this way. We’ve had more serious calls recently than I can remember in a long time. It runs cycles. Unfortunately, I don’t see it getting any better.

Q: Will you miss Windham, because you’re really not going to see police officers or the brass when you’re at county since you’ll be at the bunker in South Windham?

A: I won’t see them, and that’s probably the biggest thing that gets to me. Like I said, I’ve been here 30 years. Some of these guys came here the year after I did. I’ll miss them not being around.

Q: Like whom?

A: Jim Boudreau. Dave Bonneau, Ron Ramsdell, Dave Thomas, Peter Fulton, Mike Denbow. These guys have been here forever. I’ve known these guys for 30 years. There are Christmases we’ve worked here and had buffets and things like that, I’m going to miss that with these guys. And you know, it hurts to lose them.

Q: Do you think that loss of camaraderie will affect public safety? That was something talked about during the merger discussion.

A: I think that it won’t. The public will get great service down at county. No doubt about it. They give 110 percent just like I do. But what the people in Windham aren’t going to get is that face-to-face. Come in here at 2 or 3 a.m. and the doors are open. That won’t happen anymore. That’s what they’re going to lose. But you call 911, and you’ll get a dedicated dispatcher. And I’ll also miss the one-on-one of people coming in. But it has been my pleasure to do the dispatching here at Windham, and I’ll continue to do it down at Cumberland County.

Longtime Windham dispatcher John Peruzzi mans his console at the Windham Public Safety Building. Soon, Peruzzi and his fellow dispatchers will be operating out of the Cumberland County Regional Communications Center in South Windham, ending the 34-year-run of local dispatch. Peruzzi has worked dispatch in Windham for 31 years. (Staff photo by John Balentine)