14 Years Since New Positions Added

Pierce County (Wash.) is on the edge of the Seattle-Tacoma metro area, and the population has been growing for several years, putting pressure on the sheriff’s public safety comm center. Now several agencies dispatched by the center say service is poor because of understaffing, a situation the sheriff acknowledges. According to chief deputy Neil Gulbranson, the comm center hasn’t increased the number of dispatcher/jailer positions in 14 years, even though calls for service has doubled over the past five years. Local fire departments say their incidents are being delayed because of low staffing, including EMS incidents. Read a long story about the staffing here.