911 board names new director

Tonia Davis, the newly appointed executive director of the Western Missouri 911 Dispatch Center, works at one of the center's call stations to cover for an employee who needed a day off. Rusty Murry/Daily Mail

Nevada Daily Mail

Tonia Davis, who has been acting director of the Western Missouri 911 Dispatch Center since March, has been given the job permanently, the center's board of directors announced Thursday.

Davis was appointed during the dispatch center's board of directors meeting Wednesday. She has been acting as director since the March resignation of former director Richard Roark.

The board voted unanimously to appoint Davis. "We're real proud of her," Board Chairman J.D. Kehrman said.

For the last several months, the board reviewed operations in an effort to make the dispatch center more efficient.

"As acting director, Tonia Davis accepted a new leadership role and has done a tremendous job in preparing the 911 center for the future by strengthening partnerships from all those agencies contracting with the system," said Kehrman, who also serves as Nevada city manager.

Davis said she is excited about the promotion and that her family is very proud of her. Even with the demands of her job, her family is her priority.

"I have to make time for them," she said, adding she and fiancé Jeremy Bumbaugh have three children; Iszack, 15; Nathan, 11; and 9-year-old Trinity. The family lives in Nevada.

There is one very distinct difference between Davis' job and that of the previous director. While Roar's position was strictly administrative, Davis is a working dispatcher. Anytime employees need time off, Davis fills in for them.

In fact, on the day of this interview, Davis was working a call station in the center taking phone calls and dispatching emergency services to different city and county agencies.

"If you're going to direct a 911 center, you need to be able to do the job and be willing to do it," she said.

Davis started as a dispatcher in March 2007, working for the city of Nevada when it still did its own dispatching. When the center was finished and went online in 200, she made the move to the current location and has worked full-time dispatching for all county agencies since then.

Davis said it can be difficult trying to juggle her administrative duties and dispatching duties. She is glad she is not dispatching full time. She said she doesn't want to see either side of the equation neglected, because the agencies they serve and the residents of the county deserve the best possible service.

Davis said her job keeps her on her toes. She characterized the dispatch center as an integral part of the law enforcement and public safety community. Sometimes the paperwork and documentation required at the center can be daunting, she said.

In-between dispatching services, answering the phone and monitoring radio traffic, there is always something to do.

Davis said she really likes being able to help people during their time of need, and "the adrenaline of an emergency call -- from the safety of my seat" in the dispatch center.