Perl retires after four decades at VWPD

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The Van Wert Police Department said good-bye to records clerk and former dispatcher Oribel “Ory” Perl, who is retiring after serving more than four decades in the department.

Perl said she owes her career to former city police officer John Wortman and the late Phyllis Blackmore Holmes, a dispatcher, who made a presentation during a high school Career Day.

“It was just something that drew my attention,” Perl said, noting that she later joined an Explorer Club that no longer exists, and for which Wortman and Holmes were also advisers.

On the recommendation of Holmes, Perl said she took her first job as a dispatcher at the Paulding Police Department shortly after graduating from high school, with the idea that she would later seek the position being vacated by Holmes, who was retiring.

Perl officially joined the VWPD as a dispatcher on August 13, 1973, and held that position for more than 30 years. Later on, she trained new dispatchers, passing on her “experience and passion for the job”, according to a VWPD handout. She was also LEADS (Law Enforcement Agencies Data System) terminal agency coordinator during that time and was part of the implementation of the Van Wert County Enhanced 9-1-1 telephone system.

The dispatcher station that Perl first worked in was vastly different than today’s mostly-digital facility.

“We had one microphone, a Western Union tickertape machine for LEADS, and a (reel-to-reel) tape recorder to record incoming calls,” she said, noting that she isn’t sure she could handle all the computer and related equipment now used by dispatchers. “There are so many screens over there.”

The longtime dispatcher also started by using a typewriter to type dispatch logs, but later saw the transition to today’s computerized log system.

Perl said she loved her more than three decades as a dispatcher, although there were some tough days during that time, including the day a police officer was shot during a domestic relations call and another time when she had to console a mother whose child died in a mobile home fire — something for which Perl said she blamed herself for several years, even though she admitted there was nothing she could have done differently.

On November 1, 2003, Perl became the department’s records clerk — officially, the C & I manager — after then-clerk Harriet Hire suffered a stroke and had to retire on disability. In that position, Perl assisted the department’s transition from its old records data system to the current system, as well as helped with implementing today’s in-cruiser computer systems and other technology improvements.

Perl said it was a little difficult making the transition from being a dispatcher to being records clerk.

“I had to get used to going from being at the center of everything as a dispatcher to answering just one phone (in a quiet office),” she noted.

Perl said she loved both of her jobs and couldn’t imagine doing anything else for the last four decades, but also said she will enjoy her retirement as well, noting that she and her husband plan to do some traveling in the near future.

Among those who attended Perl’s reception were a number of retired police officers and dispatchers who returned to share the day with their former colleague.

Lieutenant Doug Weigle also presented Perl with a plaque honoring her years of service to the department.

“Ory’s contributions in all areas of the department have contributed to our overall success,” Weigle noted. “Her commitment and dedication to the citizens of Van Wert, the city of Van Wert, and the Van Wert Police Department will always be remembered.”