Northville Twp. dispatcher/drone pilot retiring after stellar career

For 25 years, Laura Engebretson has helped the Northville community thanks to thousands of interactions with residents, as a reassuring voice in the night.

The 911 dispatcher and Public Safety Officer for the Northville Township Police Department, who worked midnight shifts for 98% of her career, is retiring, with her final shift answering calls Oct. 19.

After delivering babies, providing CPR instruction to callers and ensuring first responders are armed with the most up-to-date information before entering a scene, she’s ready to disconnect from her rewarding career of helping others to
travel, bike, read and garden.

“I want the break of constantly being on guard,” Engebretson said. “It’s going to be a whole new world for me.”

‘Ultimate luxury’ forthcoming

Her first trip is to Florida to visit her snowbird parents and she’s eager to experience the ultimate luxury.

“I’m not planning a comeback date,” she said. “I’m going there until I say, ‘I should probably go home.’ I’ve never done that before.”

Time is something Engebretson is acutely aware of as a 911 dispatcher.

“Seconds save lives,” she said. “I know it’s dramatic, but people die, so getting the Fire Department there ASAP, starting CPR over the phone, it matters because seconds save lives.

“Our Fire Department has proven that time and time again, we get CPR started and they get a pulse back and the patient ends up walking out of the hospital.”

Breaking New Ground

Engebretson is the end of an era. She started her career in June 2000 at the City of Northville as a dispatcher at age 19.

She became a Northville Township employee in June 2004, when Northville Township began operating a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), which receives emergency and non-emergency calls for both the Township and the City.

Engebretson is the final dispatcher from that merger.

Now the PSAP has 10 civilian Public Safety Officers (PSOs) who are recognized by the state of Michigan as Certified Telecommunicators.

They also are certified in Emergency Medical Dispatching, which ensures Engebretson and her colleagues can assess medical emergencies, prioritize responses and provide instructions to callers until assistance arrives.

These highly trained professionals are typically the first public safety employees that residents encounter during an emergency.

PSOs have to multi-task, using several technology platforms on eight computer monitors, to dispatch emergency resources, while also using unique interpersonal skills to provide early intervention during life safety incidents.

In addition, PSOs process and monitor prisoners held at the Northville Township Police Department.

“Laura was one of the best, the first point of contact, a lifeline for people who need help, and the first critical step in the chain of survival we provide to our community,” said Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police Scott Hilden.

“She will be missed.”

The patrol officers will miss her, too, adds Deputy Police Chief Matthew MacKenzie. “She always referred to the patrol staff as ‘my officer.’ She truly cared about each officer when they were out on the road,” providing them with as much information and assistance as she can to make sure they come home safely each shift.

Lt. Christopher Rowley felt that nearly every time he worked with her.

“Laura is always willing to go the extra mile in her work,” Lt. Rowley said. “If there is a problem that needs solving, she will find the solution to ensure the people on shift are as safe as possible. If there was someone who needed help or a piece of information to dig up, she didn’t stop until it was done.”

From Dispatcher to Drone Pilot

That’s exactly why Engebretson volunteered to become a certified drone pilot for the Police Department in 2023.

She wanted to help the officers any way she could. For her, it’s personal. Her brother carries a badge for the Detroit Police Department.

“I also thought it would be a really cool thing to do,” she said. “It turns out it was really cool.”

One of her favorite drone moments on the job was when she took a call about people breaking into cars. Her boss asked her to go to the crime scene to fly the drone to help locate the perpetrators by finding their body’s heat signature in the dead of the night.

She guided the officers toward them.

They ended up getting in a car and driving off. One of the officers saw them, stopped them and arrested them.

“I’m now high-tailing it back to the police station because we book prisoners,” Engebretson explained. “I’m trying to beat the police car back to the police station so I can use the restroom before I have to go book three people. And that’s when I realize I took the call for the larcenies in progress, I responded out there, I tracked them down, and then I come back and I book them.

“It was just like, ‘Oh my God. What a circle, right? It was so crazy and I had a lot of fun with that.”

Helping Others is Her Superpower

Engebretson jokes that she moves in every shift. That’s because she carries at least three bags stuffed with everything from pain relieving Tiger Balm to snacks to have at the ready should she or another colleague need something.

“Laurie — I have always called her Laurie and not Laura, I’m not sure why — has a passion for helping people, not only in her professional role, but supporting her peers,” said Records Clerk Melissa Sullivan, a former dispatcher with Engebretson since the merge in 2004.

“When my husband passed away, Laurie was there for me. She helped me get through the tough days coming back to work, and she picked up shifts when I needed to be off, she even helped me Christmas shop for my kids.”

She also organized a 5K run to honor Sullivan’s late husband while raising donations to send Sullivan’s daughter to summer camp the year after he died.

“One of Laurie’s greatest attributes is that she is an excellent listener,” she said. “It is what makes her so good at her job, and what makes her such a wonderful friend to have.”

Leaving a Legacy

Engebretson’s generosity crosses state lines. She volunteers for the Police Unity Tour, a four-day bike ride for 300 miles from New Jersey to Washington, D.C., that raises awareness of officers killed in the line of duty and raises funds for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum in Washington, D.C., ensuring their sacrifices are not forgotten.

While she represents Northville Township Police Department, she assists her brother’s Detroit Police support team.

“Being in the field, that experience hit me like a ton of bricks,” she said. “Seeing the memorial, being with survivors, hearing the stories, I knew I had to be a part of it however I could. There hasn’t been a year that’s gone by that something has happened that solidified in my mind that I was meant to be there.

“Being a caretaker, I ensure everyone who wants to get to that wall makes it to that wall.”

It’s one of the legacies she’s given Northville Township and hopes the younger PSOs and officers continue with it.

“I spent 25 years worrying about my guys, my officers, and I will still worry about them, but it’s time to pass the torch,” she said.

Thank you to Northville Township Communications Director Rene Wisely for contributing this article to Social House News.