The Voice You Want To Hear

Master Dispatcher Sharbet Manning with Marion County Sheriff’s Office (Florida, USA) wouldn’t describe herself as the type of person who tries to get into the limelight. She’s comfortable with staying on her side of the headset, letting her voice guide people through the worst moments of their lives.

Manning has done just that for over 30 years. She didn’t originally set out to work in public safety. Manning applied for a job with the sheriff’s department “on a whim” in her early 20s. After being hired on as a calltaker in January 1993, she told herself she’d give it a year before deciding whether or not it was something she wanted to do long term. But once she was promoted to dispatcher, she kept going and has never looked back.

“So many people ask me how in the world I do this job, and I don’t know!” Manning said. “I just do. It’s something I love to do and to teach others about, and that’s the way it’s always been.”

It isn’t just working on the dispatch floor that Manning loves—she also served as an in-house Emergency Telecommunicator Course (ETC) Instructor for a while and loves interacting with the new hires. She knows that there’s nothing they can hear on the phone that she hasn’t already been through. Everyone in the center from the greenest Emergency Dispatcher to the most seasoned veteran knows that they can talk with Manning about anything.
“You have to be honest with them, but make them feel encouraged,” Manning said. “We hear and see so much; it works on your mind. It’s not all good days, but you’ll get through it.”

Over her tenure, Manning has handled many difficult incidents herself, like one where a mother came home and found her child not breathing. One of the worst in Manning’s mind was when one of her deputies was being shot at.
Her calm demeanor and level-headedness are part of what make her such an invaluable part of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Many law enforcement officers have expressed that if they get into a really bad situation, “Sharbet’s is the voice you want to hear.” On more than one occasion, Manning has been recognized because of her voice while out and about in her community.

Manning has also been recognized in other ways. She received an award for keeping a clear head during the incident when the deputy was being shot at. During her career, she’s received many other awards and commendations, and recently Manning was awarded a big one: the 2026 APCO Telecommunicator of the Year award for Florida. At the ceremony, Bill McConnell, former employee at Marion County Sheriff’s Office and current Implementations Project Manager with Priority Dispatch Corp.^™ (PDC^™), read the nomination letter outlining all the reasons she is a vital asset to the public safety community. According to Manning, the letter was just as much a touching, welcome surprise as the award itself.

“I had no idea they felt that way about me,” she said.

The outpouring of love and stories of support from Manning’s career didn’t stop there. Her agency posted about her achievement on their Facebook page, and Manning was astounded when she read through the hundreds of comments people left. Deputies she hadn’t worked with for 20 years or more were posting about her, talking about the impact she’d had on their lives.

After such an enormous milestone, what’s next for Manning? Retirement! It’ll be a difficult transition, but she realizes that there’s a time when everyone has to leave—and besides, she’s done her share of waking up at four in the morning over the past three decades.

It’s not goodbye forever to her second family at Marion County Sheriff’s Office though. After Manning takes a well-deserved break to go traveling with her mom, she plans to go back to work at least part time.

“Not dispatch, though!” she said with a laugh. “That’s for young people. I’ll do records or something slower.”