Web Site Spotlights Staffing Shortage

Dispatchers at San Francisco’s Emergency Communications Division have put the spotlight on their understaffing situation by creating a Web site that gives the facts and figures. The site states that only 114 of 194 positions were filled as of last November, a 42% vacancy rate. The average daily rate of overtime shifts is 23%, with highs of 50%, the Web site says. A December posting by an unnamed author says that the city’s police and fire department’s have smaller vacancy rates, and both have mandated minimum daily staffing levels. The Communications Division, however, has no legal minimum staffing, the posting states. Read more about the situation here.