News release

From actor to 9-1-1 police dispatcher, Angela wants you to know help is a call away

April 13, 2025 - Island District, British Columbia
From: British Columbia RCMP

Content

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week April 13-19

Angela’s journey from actor to a 9-1-1 police dispatcher was not straight forward. In fact, if you had asked her 10 years ago where she would be today, police dispatcher was not on her radar.

But that was then and this is now. Angela is one of hundreds of BC RCMP police dispatchers who are being recognized across the country from April 13-19, 2025 during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

The former stage performer’s first love was acting. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Saskatchewan. When she graduated, she worked in professional theatre for 10 years and loved it. She acted, but she also dabbled in writing and directing.

And then in late 2019/early 2020, COVID hit, and in Angela’s words, the pandemic broke the performance industry and my income vanished overnight.

By that time, Angela was coming into her thirties and craving more stability. I started to care that I was still eating 99 cent noodles, she laughs. She and her partner were also craving warmth. They had spent all of their lives in Saskatchewan and with COVID interrupting their livelihood, they began to look in another direction...to the west where there was warmth, change and variety.

The pair purchased a 1987 motorhome and in 2020, they started to travel with their three dogs—a polish sheep dog, a border collie, and a husky cross. We have friends on Salt Spring Island and we fell in love with the west coast, the mountains, the trees and the ocean, she says.

Looking for something more secure, Angela spotted a profile on the BC RCMP 9-1-1 police dispatchers. She thought, could I do this? It turns out she could and three years in, she is working at the Island District 9-1-1 Police Dispatch Centre located in Courtenay.

"I came from something I was very passionate about (acting). If I look at the day jobs, I had to pay bills waiting tables, I struggled to stay interested in that. With my work as a police dispatcher, there’s always change and variety. Every season is different. Every shift is different and every file is different," explains Angela.

The shift work is also in her favour. We work four days and have four days off, she says. This gives her time to train to run ultra marathons.

This week, Canada celebrates Angela and her hundreds of fellow 9-1-1 police dispatchers during the National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. In times of intense personal crisis or community disasters, the first access point for the public is calling 9-1-1.

We honour the more than 300 men and women who take calls from the public in times of crises and emergencies, says BC RCMP Commanding Officer, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald.

Join us in recognizing these unsung heroes who provide the public with a reassuring voice at the end of a phone line. Our BC RCMP 9-1-1 police dispatchers are one call away.

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