Short Staffing– Chief Works

Clovis (NM) police officers are working in the comm center–including the chief–after resignations have left the department with just six dispatchers out of 15 authorized positions. Officials said burn-out is the primary reason that dispatchers are leaving for other jobs, forcing the department to pull officers from other assignments. Officers say the have a new-found respect for the job of dispatching after working in the comm center. But the department says the shift in personnel creates vacancies in other positions. The comm center usually has two persons on-duty at all times, but sometimes just one dispatcher is working.