SANDPOINT — Amber Lindsey originally wanted to be a police officer.

An injury derailed those plans prompting her to switch her plans to dentistry. It was then a friend told her about a position at Bonner County Dispatch. Lindsey, then 20, got the job where she has been for the past 13 years.

And 13 years later, it seems to be working out. Last week, Lindsey received the prestigious Public Safety Communications Director of the Year Award from Idaho’s Association of Public Safety Communications Officials.

A Priest River High School graduate, Lindsey attended North Idaho College and Spokane’s Apollo College. It was there she studied to become a police officer, before a knee injury led her to change fields. Then, on a whim, she applied for a local dispatching job and has worked her way up the ranks, earning the title of operations manager, and most recently, APCO’s yearly award.

Lindsey was surprised when she heard the news about the award a few days before the APCO’s yearly conference.

“Never in a million years did I think I would ever get this award,” she said. She dedicated the award to her amazing staff who she said are “the heroes who make my job so easy.”

In an email announcing the award, she was told to be there Wednesday and was asked for a short biography. Lindsey received three nominations for the award, two from her staff and another from someone else.

Lindsey has had to fill in for more and more shifts over the last few years. Dispatchers last an average of two years, she said. Lindsey guessed that her willingness to cover shifts left open by her underlings may be why she was nominated so many times.

“It’s about making sure my people get the time off they need, that they can take their vacations and not have to be mandated overtime,” she said.

Lindsey lives with her husband Jeffrey and their seven boys. When it comes to handling emergencies, she said “you could say I know a thing or two.” For the time being, Lindsey plans to keep on serving the residents of Bonner County as the operations manager for Bonner County 911.

In a social media post celebrating Lindsey’s award Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said the longtime operations manager was recognized for superior leadership and for going beyond what is needed. Over the past year, Wheeler said Bonner County 911 has seen increased calls and radio traffic as well as “extreme staffing shortages.”.

“Thank you, Amber, for your continuing dedication to the Bonner County Sheriff's Office, the citizens of Bonner County, and our many visitors,” he said in the post.