Seventeen years ago, on Jodi Standley's first day as a Lincoln 911 dispatcher, her first call came from the man who'd inspired her to join the team: her father, Steve Standley.
So it was only fitting that on Steve's last day with the Lincoln Police Department before his retirement, his final dispatch would be answered by Jodi.
At 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, he delivered his last "Code 9" call — the sign-off all officers use at the end of a shift.
"Everybody on the other side of the microphone is part of an important team that's kept me safe and helped me to the end of this career. ... Remember that you are the best of the best."
Steve was emotional, pausing to collect himself a few times in the address.
But when Jodi responded to his call, there was no hiding the tears.
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"I was overwhelmed," she said. "When he started getting choked up, I kind of moved into a different realm. I'm so proud of the impact he's had on the city and our co-workers."
After serving 43 years on the police force, as an officer for 38 years then five years as a public service officer, Steve looks forward to having more free time to be with his grandchildren, while making numerous trips to Kansas City to watch the Royals play baseball.
That type of spontaneity had always been a missing ingredient in his life. He lived for the job, which he began in 1975, after his wife encouraged him to apply.
He worked on the Northeast and Southeast teams, as well as in the crime-prevention unit, the youth-aid unit and as a school resource officer in elementary, middle and high schools around Lincoln.
Steve said that his favorite part of his job was that he could form personal connections with children and families to educate them and prevent crime before it happened.
"I learned from my first assignment near Northeast High School that you can impact kids the most, since they're impressionable," he said. "Working with people to prevent and address their needs is always important to me, and kids are first in line."
When his daughter was looking for a job after graduating from college, Steve took her to the communications room where the dispatchers work. Jodi said she was instantly amazed by the work they do.
"It's the kind of job that when you get home and when you look in the mirror at the end of the day, you feel you've made a difference," she said. "He taught me that."
The two never knew when they would come into contact with each other over the radio, as dispatchers rotate to different stations on their shifts while officers stay on the same one.
But when Steve would hear Jodi's voice on the other end, he said it was reassuring.
"It's really a wonderful thing to have a dispatcher with a personal link to you," he said. "It gives both of us an opportunity for a different level of confidence during events. She has the perspective that others may not have."
Jodi said that her father touched many lives during his tenure with LPD and that he'll be leaving behind a legacy when he retires.
"He had a hand in shaping so many in every single aspect and facet of that department," she said. "I hope they see it as a mentor fulfilling his career and for the dispatchers, we feel a giant gap in our world because he was always there to help."