Dispatcher Speaks Out on Waiting 911 Calls

A Minneapolis (Minn.) 911 dispatcher has gone public with her criticism of staffing levels at the center, directly calling on the mayor to fulfill a campaign promise to make the city safer. The problem seems to center on a training program intended to cross-train dispatchers for the calltaking and radio dispatching jobs. Robin Jones is a 30-year veteran, and last month told a WCCO-TV reporter that sometimes there is just one calltaker on-duty to answer 911 calls because of on-going training. There is overtime—up to 550 hours a month—but sometimes it’s not filled, and those working overtime are frazzled, Jones said. Internal memos indicate that 911 call answer times increased from an average of six seconds in 2011 to 10.4 seconds in 2013. WCCO began receiving citizen complaints last December, leading to a series of video reports on 911 call answering delays. The TV reports just prompted a blog response from mayor Betsy Hodges, who said a union election prevented her from commenting earlier, and that the comm center is now implementing a “common-sense” staffing model that combines job duties and is based on call demand. Read more about the current developments here, and the earlier TV investigation here. Update: WCCO-TV has posted a new story comparing Minneapolis’ center with the Douglas County (Omaha, Neb.) center.