JANESVILLE, Wis. — One southern Wisconsin 911 center employee takes her work behind the scenes seriously.
And the longtime civil servant just celebrated 30 years on the job.
In a separate room around the corner from the Rock County 911 Communications Center, Geographic Information Systems Coordinator Kris Pehl quietly sits and clicks away on her keyboard. On a mapping screen, she constantly corrects and updates addresses while adding aliases to the dispatch software.
“I feel responsible because I want to get locations correct,” Pehl said about why her passion for perfection is critical for her community’s emergency calls.
“Location is the most important thing here,” telecommunicator Matt Woodrum said.
He said he appreciates how Pehl routinely comes into the center to check on him and the other dispatchers. Routinely, she will fine-comb any mapping issues they may report.
“If we didn’t have Kris here to get all these address points and street addresses in there, and for me to bother her when something is off, we would all be very lost,” Woodrum said about Pehl’s attention to detail.
The motivated mom of three is praised by her peers and Motorola for going above and beyond. Her boss, Interim Assistant Rock County 911 Communications Center Director Kathy Churchill, called Pehl an “unsung hero” and said Pehl is their “unicorn” because rarely does a 911 center feature someone of Pehl’s caliber.
“We’re very lucky,” Churchill said. “She sets us up to look good. It starts with the GIS database, you know, it’s not on the fun 911 movies,” Churchill said.
Churchill said it is Pehl’s real-life dedication that helps the Rock County 911 Communications Center succeed on a daily basis.