There are only a few roads in Attala County that Liz Peteet hasn’t been on. But she still knows exactly where those are located and can point them out on a map.
“People really should just ride the county. We have a really beautiful county,” said the longtime E-911 coordinator. “You can go up on a rise on a gravel road and look out, and you’ll see all this wonderful greenery, the hills, the slopes — it’s just beautiful.”
Peteet has served as a 911 coordinator for almost 29 years and will soon retire. Her last day is June 30.
“I’ve enjoyed my time,” she said.
She started serving as the Attala County E-911 coordinator in 2001. Before that, she worked in Holmes County as the emergency management director and E-911 coordinator. “The same position became available in my home county, so it worked out for me,” she said.
Peteet is a Kosciusko native and a Kosciusko High School graduate. She moved away from her hometown, but later returned. “I came back to raise my kids here,” she said.
Peteet has seen a lot of changes and advances in technology over the years.
“When I started, it was kind of like on the ground floor,” she said. “We didn’t have a whole lot. … When I first started out in Holmes County, we didn’t have the mapping that we have now. So I’ve gone through several transition periods with it.”
Callers used to have to tell a dispatcher their location by describing landmarks or asking if the dispatcher knows where someone lives.
“Now when the call comes in, it pops up with the map of the road or street or highway you’re on, and if you’re moving, we can see you moving down the highway. The changes have been incredible to see. It’s going to be an exciting time for 911, because now we call it ‘next generation 911.’ You’re going to be able to text to 911 or video to 911.”
As the E-911 coordinator, Peteet has been responsible for all the new addressing in the county.
“If you were to build a house out in the county, you have a physical 911 address,” she said. “I have to maintain those records for the county and the residents.”
This has led her to be one of the first people to welcome newcomers to Attala County.
“I really enjoyed meeting people moving into Attala County,” she said. “I’ve met people as far away as Oregon. There are a lot of people who come here from Louisiana, Florida and Texas. It’s just interesting to see them want to move here, but they like the quietness and the safety.”
She also supervises 911 dispatching.
Peteet said 911 has the slogan “We are the first, first responders.”
“We are the first ones who people make contact with. We hear it, and we have to be the eyes for law enforcement, for fire, for EMS even before they roll out,” she said.
Peteet said some calls are hard, especially when tragic situations occur, but it’s a dispatcher’s job to remain calm and keep the caller calm.
Then, there are also the lighter calls, such as children prank calling. One time, Peteet said 911 received a call from a woman who asked for the most scenic route to Meridian.
“You get some laughs, too,” she said. “It helps balance out the seriousness of the other calls.”
As 911 coordinator, Peteet said her most memorable moment was Hurricane Katrina.
“I think it changed so much in Mississippi,” she said. “The storm was coming in but no one was expecting it to be as bad as it was or that it would affect so far north of the coast. We had all these people come in and hotels were booked. … We were out of power for a couple of days.”
At one time during Hurricane Katrina, Kosciusko Police Department was the only place in the city that had power because of a generator. Peteet slept in her office. “I put three chairs together and slept in the office,” she said.
For her retirement, Peteet said, “Right now, I plan to relax, take a deep breath and see what the next chapter brings.”
Danny Townsend, who is currently Attala County fire chief and emergency management director, will take over as E-911 director in July. Townsend will retain the duties of the emergency management director. The Attala County Board of Supervisors has not yet made a decision on the fire chief position.
