Cheney police officer/dispatcher of the year

Cheney dispatcher Thomas Hall doesn't think of his job as just that - a job.

Nor does he want residents to think of him and the rest of his Cheney Police Department comrades as merely public safety.

"Think of us as insurance," Hall said.

Hall has been named the department's 2015 Dispatcher of the Year, the third time he's received the award. He appreciates the honor, but sees it as something akin to a sports most valuable player award.

"All of us here in dispatch, we all do a great job," he said. "It's a group award. Without my coworkers, I'm nothing."

Born in South Korea into a military famil...