Police communications operator (PCO) Mohammed Sayyad is one of the newest members of University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Police and Public Safety. For the past month, Sayyad has been training with a PCO lead to learn department policies and systems. 

“Helping in any way possible and attempting to serve calls independently feels like a personal achievement to me because it shows my improvement within the PCO position," says Sayyad. 

Sayyad says he became a PCO to help public safety officials to keep our communities safe. “My favorite part of being a PCO is being able to successfully assist any individual in need," he says. “I find that anyone who calls the University of Maryland, Baltimore Police Department will always receive a solution for their situation."

Beginning any new job comes with a learning curve. For PCOs, there is a lot to learn: radio systems, the aware portal, cameras, building access, phones, Safe Walk/Safe Ride, and much more. 

“I had issues understanding what was being said over the air for the first couple weeks of my training,” Sayyad says. This is a common challenge for those new to public safety professions; radio traffic can sound garbled to the untrained ear. “This is an issue that can be very critical because what is being said of the air is vitally important in the role of PCO. I overcame this issue by using a headset for the radio transmission to relay through. This made it much easier to hear and understand the transmissions on the air.”

UMB Public Safety has nearly 200 employees, but Sayyad recognizes that they can’t be all places at once. “Our UMB community should report an issue even if it doesn’t directly affect you,” Sayyad says. “Although we have many police officers and security officers to patrol and keep our campus safe, we cannot have our eyes everywhere all of the time.”

In the future, Sayyad hopes to use his public safety expertise to serve our country and deter external threats. Outside of work, he likes to play video games and exercise every day. He also enjoys international travel and learning about cultures around the world!