The nation's public safety communications centers have been suffering under a staffing shortage since 1999, when the nation's unemployment rate dropped to record low levels, and the technology revolution began offering job benefits and pay that government agencies could not match. Even with the alleged dot.com crash of mid-2001, there are still fewer applicants for dispatching jobs than in the early 1990s. With no source of new trainees, and continuing retirements or other departures from the profession, many comm centers are operating at 60% of their authorized strength--or less.

There has been much hand-wringing, complaining and brainstorming by the nation's comm center administrators trying to solve the problem. In the meantime, the remaining dispatchers are forced to work 60-hour weeks (or more), to work while they're sick, to neglect their friends and family, and to suffer from the stress of handling critical incidents every day.

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) convened a task force to study the issue in 1999, and released a final report that includes recommendations and best practices. In August 2001, APCO formed a formal committee on the subject (Project 40, or Project RETAINS), headed by Julie Righter, director of the Lincoln (Neb.) 911 Center. In mid-2005 they issued a "toolkit" for helping to determine proper staffing levels within a comm center. Surf the Project's Web page for complete information, forms, reports, etc.

There is no single solution to the staffing shortage. In fact, there may not be any solution to the crisis. There are, however, several steps that a comm center manager can take to diligently work on the problem--and that's what it really takes, continuing scrutiny of the problem and work to solve it.

However, this Guide examines how the staffing shortage began and suggests several steps that managers can take to address the problem. Good luck!

Gary Allen
Editor, DISPATCH Monthly Magazine
updated 2/1/07

This diagram shows how comm center staffing begins with normal departures, and then starts to become critical as departures increase due to the shortage itself. Once the staffing situation becomes critical (the red area), the cycle begins again, but this time motivated by the crisis, not the normal routine. One big hurdle to solving the staffing crisis is to somehow break this cycle.

A typical comm center experiences "normal" departures each year: retirements, those moving on to school, those making a profession change, those with medical problems, those transferring to another department within your jurisdiction (even dispatchers being promoted to officer or deputy!). The normal challenge for a comm center manager is to match these departures with hiring new trainees, and turn them into veteran dispatchers (green zone).

However, once the supply of applicants begins to dwindle, the staffing problems begin. The "normal" departures continue, draining personnel from the center. The remaining personnel are left to handle the job tasks, putting them under additional stress (yellow zone). Those remaining employees sleep less, eat less nutriously, and work harder to keep up. They make sacrifices for themselves, their family and friends (pink zone). All these conditions begin to take a toll, and some dispatchers begin to take more sick leave, go off on disability leave, or simply quit out of frustration (red zone).

The cycle then begins again, but this time it's motivated by the staffing crisis conditions, not the normal reasons for leaving. Dispatchers see retirement as an attractive option, whereas they were going to work another five years to gain more benefits. Dispatchers working "wounded" decide they'd rather go off on disability, and perhaps leave with some type of disability settlement with the agency. Others with more minor ailments decide to take more sick leave, or stop working overtime. And, of course, dispatchers leave when they see attractive offers from other comm centers or private sector jobs.

And it just keeps going around and around, until..."Will the last dispatcher please turn out the lights?"

Where did this crisis begin? From the chart below, you can see that the crisis was some seven years in the making--the nation's unemployment rate began a steady decline in 1993, bottoming out below four percent in late 2000.

As more Americans went back to work in the 1990s, public safety comm centers were undergoing a transformation: from clerical workers handling phone calls and incidents with manual methods, to tech no-savvy professionals managing three, four or five computer systems to track and manage public safety field forces. This change was so incremental, and so "makes sense" that few in the profession saw the need to revise job descriptions, change compensation levels or take other actions to reflect the increased emphasis on technology.

At the same time, America's economy was changing--steel and iron production was out, information technology was in. Computer, Internet and other technology companies were recruiting workers that were educated, knowledgeable about computers, required little supervision, and who could think on their feet. Those criteria, unfortunately, were an exact match to what comm centers needed, too. But dot.cam companies had one big advantage--they could offer prospective employees an enormous array of benefits: free cafeteria and snack bar, indoor running track, casual and pizza Fridays, valet dry cleaning and film processing, stock options, and on and on. All this was on top of excellent working conditions (ergonomic workstations, latest equipment, well-designed lighting, etc.) and a supportive management style.

Given the two options, America's tech no-types opted for technology companies, and left public safety comm centers to fend for themselves. But, as government agencies, comm centers had no way to compete. With only the public's tax money to spend, they couldn't easily raise wages (and could never match the private sector's pay), they couldn't offer equal benefits, and they certainly couldn't offer some of the outlandish perks that dot.cams offered. Comm Center applicant tests turned into depressing events attended by fewer and fewer persons, and fewer of those passed and went on to become employees.

Through October 2001 the situation hasn't changed. Despite the above two graphs, the increase in unemployment and the decline of the technology and Internet companies hasn't really changed the application situation--there continue to be few persons who want to make public safety dispatching a profession. In summary:

So armed with some facts, comm center managers must push on from here....how do you break the staffing cycle, how do you attract new applicants, how do you fill those chairs in order to continue the high quality of service necessary to serve the public?

A Set of Unified Solutions

As I said in the introduction, there is no single solution to the current staffing crisis. Instead, one must implement a set of solutions--and keep at it. The problem is not something that can be solved either immediately, or one time. You'll have to break out the ordinary, every-day working mentality, and come up with some new ideas based on a careful red-examination of your workplace and working conditions. Here's my suggestions:

Keep the employees you have. You must begin to break the cycle of departures (chart above) any way that you can. In most cases, this involves removing the sources of stress the dispatchers are encountering: longer hours, poor work conditions (heating, air conditioning, lighting, ergonomics, no break room, etc.), unnecessary paperwork or procedures, poor lines of authority, etc. If you don't already (and you should be), involve the dispatchers in some degree of the comm center's management. No comm center can be run as a democracy, but it's a fact that a significant amount of a worker's stress comes from being unable to control their work environment. If you can involve the dispatchers in some of the management decisions--or at least invite their suggestions and feedback--you'll significant decrease their frustrations.

Reduce the stress at every opportunity!

You should work very hard on the issue of overtime, mandatory overtime, canceled vacations and refusal of time-off requests. In general, America's workers put more emphasis on personal time these days. Dispatchers caught in a staffing crisis are no exception, and because of the associated stress, need their time off to recharge and wind down. If you require overtime, the policies and procedures must be fair and apply to all. You should obtain feedback from the supervisory staff on how the procedures are working, if they are effective at providing 24-hour staffing, and the effects the mandatory overtime is having on the dispatchers.

There are many other areas you should be examining for improvements--basic pay rates, shift differentials, overtime pay, other benefits like paid meals, uniform allowances, parking, breaks, etc. Yes, there are limits to what you can do. But consider everything, rule nothing out, and push hard against the resistance of higher-ups to change. A lot is at stake.

You should also consider alternative forms of staffing the center, including different hours (4x10, 12x3, etc.) and using officers, deputies or firefighters. These alternatives are many times regulated by contracts or unions, so you'll have to investigate fully. You may encounter all sorts of objections to bringing sworn personnel into the comm center. However, it can be done. And given the crisis, the effort is justified.

If you're successful, you can at the most postpone (or improve upon) the staffing crisis. You can't solve it simply by keeping your current employees. But this is a crucial first step.

Make the benefits competitive. You can't compete with the dot.cam companies, for sure. However, you can examine all aspects of the job description and work on adding or improving benefits, especially if they don't involve money. Look within your jurisdiction for benefits already allowed other departments or units, and which the dispatchers don't have. For example, is there child care available for other employees? Is there housing assistance, transit subsidies, improved retirement, deferred compensation, life insurance, etc. that could be applied to the dispatchers. In some cases, this might require renegotiating a contract. In other cases, the change in benefits can be mutually agreed by both parties, and then simply implemented.

Study the job description materials, and imagine what prospective applicants are looking for. Does the brochure or description mention everything that's offered, are the benefits prioritized properly, does it emphasize the positive aspects of the job?

Without money, it's hard to be competitive. But you should realize that most dispatchers are not in it for the money. I've seen few job brochures that mention the attractions of the area (skiing, sports teams, art museums, etc.). I've seen fewer brochures that mention the rewards of community service, helping others, and being "in the know"--they are substantial, and should be promoted strongly, along with other benefits.

Create a pipeline. The days of simply advertising for a job opening and waiting for hordes of applicants to arrive is over. Taking a cue from many other professions (including law enforcement), it's time to create a method of sucking in applicants way back up the career path. First, consider creating a new position in the comm center for either trainee, aide, cadet, Explorer, Scouts or some other paid, part-time position that engineered for promotion to full-time dispatcher by way of a defined path. Many other professions use this method of attracting candidates early, providing them on-the-job training, and slipping them into a career position with few problems. Many law enforcement agencies have such programs, and find them very successful in filling open positions with highly-qualified candidates.

This pipeline should extend to your region's higher education system, including junior colleges, vocational schools and even high schools. You should make contact with the appropriate counselors to determine how you can make contact with promising students, introduce public safety dispatching to them, and guide them into the profession. This could include some type of scholarships, part-time paid jobs, volunteer activities, or other guidance. At the very least, you should be attending every Job Day or Career Day at your local high schools to raise visibility of the profession. You should offer tours, visits or other on-site activities for those who express interest. You should develop printed materials that explain the job, describe the qualifications needed to be hired, explain the rewards and personal benefits, and offer tips and tricks on preparing for the profession.

You have to be in the field for all this to work. You can't do most of this work from an office or at a console. You should consider recruiting some dispatchers to perform some of this outreach--tap someone who is still positive about the job, energetic and who has good people skills. A good ambassador can do wonders for recruiting.

Recruit, recruit, recruit! This task is a full-time, all-the-time job. You cannot do this every six months or once a year. You have to have an on-going, self-pacing program of gathering in candidates, turning them into applicants, and turning those people into trainees. You should establish a 24-hour point of contact for candidates--somewhere they can telephone, write, e-mail or otherwise reach someone at the center (not your jurisdiction's personnel department). You should establish a method of answering candidate questions and providing them with more information. When they call, they should feel that someone actually wants to hire them, so your contact person(s) should be positive and well-briefed. They should be able to explain how to prepare for the job (training, certificates, etc.), how to apply, what to expect afterwards, and to give a rough timetable.

You should establish an on-going sit-along program for serious candidates. You should have hand-outs for them that describe the job tasks, working conditions and benefits of the job. You don't have to sugar-coat the job, or restrict what the dispatchers will tell the sit-along (believe me, they'll give them the straight scoop). Let the dispatchers full explain the job--it's to their benefit to be truthful and honest.

You should consider how to get the word out that you have positions available. Advertising can be expensive, but consider local newspapers, TV or radio ads (they may consider them public service announcements and provide the time for free), billboards or message boards (search for freebies), and other local periodicals. Attend any job fair that is held in your area, and staff the booth with a dispatcher who has hand-outs and a positive attitude. Attend Career Days, speak at local junior colleges and vocational schools. Talk to your agency's personnel officer or firefighter about candidates who weren't hired as a sworn employee--perhaps they would consider applying for a dispatcher position.

There's still competition among public safety comm centers for candidates, but in these tough times, consider teaming up with other comm centers in the region to consolidate recruiting and testing operations. Your advertising dollar will go much further with the support of other agencies, and having a single, unified application and testing process can help streamline the process (see next item).

Streamline the process. Nothing will discourage, or simply finish off, a candidate more than an ill-organized, poorly arranged or disinterested application process. Those who do apply should have the feeling that someone knows their name, is personally following their application, and will give them timely information at all stages. You should examine everything you do now to recruit, test and otherwise process applicants and determine how you can simplify it, make it easier, faster and more responsive. You should take photos of those who pass the test and will go on to further testing, so you'll know what they look like.

Make it easy on the applicants, too! You should give them a single point of contact who can give them information on the status of their application any time they call--actually, you should be calling them with periodic updates. If you can, consolidate testing procedures with other agencies in your region, so that an applicant doesn't have to take time off work for five different agency interviews, but rather just one. Make it easy to accomplish everything associated with the application and testing process.

You should also include some type of process to make sure the applicant understands all aspects of the job, so you don't end up spending time on someone who will quit with a week. You can hold an early familiarization meeting with all applicants, schedule them for individual sit-alongs or tours. However you do it, make them familiar with the days of work, hours, shifts, holidays, weekends, etc. so there are absolutely no surprises if they're hired.

There are some public safety comm centers that do their own recruiting, testing and interviewing. Others rely on the jurisdiction's personnel or human resources office. If you operate under the latter scenario, you should make contact with the personnel agency and make arrangements to streamline the process. If necessary, you may have to take over some of the procedures in order to streamline them (for example, applicants call you instead of Personnel). Convince your personnel department that you need the process streamlined in order to attract and keep qualified applicants. Don't leave the entire process to them--by nature they cannot focus enough on the dispatching positions to keep them filled.

Along the same lines, make the process fast. I'm not talking about same-day hiring. However, you're battling time in two ways--the applicant may simply become disinterested in the job over a period of weeks or months, and there are other companies and government agencies who move quickly, and who may offer your applicant a job before you can move. Examine your application, testing, interviewing and other procedures to see where you can shave time, overlap operations or even eliminate steps in order to speed things up. For example, you may be able to hand out a personal history questionnaire to applicants earlier in the process, so if they pass the oral interview, you can ask for it back and begin the background investigation. The applicant should have the impression--if not the reality--that the process is constantly moving forward--test results back, interview scheduled, background investigation being done, etc.

That's it!

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) convened a task force to study the issue of comm center staffing in 1999. The group presented its final report at the August 2001 annual conference in Salt Lake City. The report that includes recommendations and best practices, which we have summarized here. You can download a copy of the report in Acrobat, pdf format (2.8 Mb) from the APCO Web site. However, the copy appears to be from a fax, which has certain parts missing or is otherwise unreadable. posted 11-27-2001

#1 - "Reevaluate the 9-1-1 calltaker/dispatcher position to ensure that they are appropriately classified and compensated and that retirement benefits befit the job, in consideration of the skills, abilities, mission critical nature of the work, responsibilities, work conditions, speed and accuracy of decisions required, stress, shift work, training and certifications required."

#2 - "Review agency work schedules and work conditions in comparison with private and public sector employers who typically compete for employees similar to those sought by Public Safety 9-1-1 communications centers. Determine those employment factors, including work schedules, staffing levels, retention and promotional incentives, financial considerations, etc. best suited for implementation in terms of supporting employee and organizational need."

#3 - "Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of current recruiting, testing, processing, hiring, training, evaluation and retention practices utilized. Considering that this recruitment is for a very special job, to be filled by a very special person, working under very special conditions, capitalize on the 'special' and pride and satisfaction that is associated with 9-1-1 Public Safety communications and utilize fresh and innovative approaches."

#4 - "Recognize that 9-1-1 calltakers/dispatchers have the same career and retirement ambitions as other public safety personnel. Develop a career ladder structure that provides for recognition and advancement of personnel based on knowledge, skill, training and certification. Review retirement programs in relation to the unique nature and long term stresses associated with of (sic) 9-1-1 calltaker/dispatcher work and the retention of 9-1-1 calltaker/dispatcher personnel."

#5 - "Develop mechanisms that encourage frequent positive recognition of 9-1-1 calltakers/dispatchers within agencies and the communities they serve. This type of recognition has an additional benefit in that it also creates the opportunity to bring positive recognition to the 9-1-1 profession and thus serve (sic) as a subtle recruitment tool."

"The crisis in recruiting and retain 9-1-1 Public Safety calltakers/dispatchers has reached the point where......

"9-1-1 needs 9-1-1."

1. Job/Positions Classification

Comprehensive and current job/position classifications and descriptions for 9-1-1 Public Safety Communications Center (9-1-1 PSCC) calltakers, dispatchers and supervisors is essential. Classifications must:

• Be based on a detailed audit of al current skills, abilities, responsibilities, authority, training and certifications (Local, County, State and/or National required for position.
• Consider the importance of the position in relation to its impact on safety of the community served, its citizens, businesses and visitors.
• Consider the importance of the position in relation to its impact on the operation of the Law Enforcement, Fire-Rescue and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) agencies of the community
• Consider the importance of the position in relation to its impact on the safety of the Law Enforcement, Fire-Rescue and EMS personnel of those agencies.
• Consider the importance of the criticality of decisions, judgments, speed and accuracy required of the position.
• Consider the degree of multi-tasking required of the position.
• Consider the complexity and multiplicity of technology systems utilized, i.e. multi-line 9-1-1 and non emergency telephone system, Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, multi-channel radio system, Geographical/Mapping Information System (GIS), multi-radio channel/multi telephone line voice logging system, Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system, Records Management System (RMS), etc.
• Consider the liability consequences (actual and perceived) relating to the public's expectation regarding standards of service and standards of care.
• Consider the importance of the position in relation to customer service provided and the image and reputation of the agency and the community it serves.

2. Compensation

Appropriate basic and supplemental compensation should be directly related to the classification of a 9-1-1 PSCC calltaker, dispatcher and supervisor.

A. Basic Compensation

• Basic compensation should also consider and be "benchmarked" to other jobs in the private sector that require similar skill, ability, responsibility, authority, training and certification. Note--Basic compensation should not just be "benchmarked" with positions in other 9-1-1 PSCCs. This historically has been the only type "benchmark" utilized and because of its inadequacy has caused all 9-1-1 PSCCs to experience the same type recruitment retention problem, to the degree that inadequate compensation is one of the causes of the problem.
• Compensation of Law Enforcement, Fire-Rescue or EMS personnel should not be a limiting factor in establishing appropriate compensation for 9-1-1 PSCC personnel.
• Compensation of 9-1-1 PSCC must be adequate to recruit and retain qualified long term career oriented personnel.

B. Supplemental Compensation

• Consider having higher rates of basic pay and overtime pay apply when working with less than pre-established staffing levels.
• Consider having additional rates of pay for employees who have volunteered to work their days off.
• Consider additional compensation for employees who provide management directed training to other personnel
• Consider additional compensation for personnel who achieve additional education credits.
• Consider additional compensation for employees who achieve certain professional public safety communications certifications, i.e. NCIC Teletype Operator, State level NCIC equivalent, EMD, Instructor, etc.
• Consider additional compensation for employees who achieve additional language proficiencies.
• Consider additional compensation for personnel who work non-traditional work hours, i.e. Evenings, Nights, Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays.

3. Staffing

To fulfill the mission of a 9-1-1 PSCC and provide efficient service to the public and the Law Enforcement, Fire-Rescue and EMS agencies served, requires that an adequate number of qualified personnel be on duty in e communications center. When this is not the case the quality of service can diminish and the short and long term affect (sic) on communications center personnel often leads to staffing issues being exasperated, personnel over worked because they are understaffed and attrition rates increasing.

[unreadable]

• Methodologies for establishing adequate and acceptable staffing levels to ensure the service levels expected by the public and required by the Law Enforcement, Fire-Rescue and EMS agencies served should be adopted and utilized.
• A methodology should allow for the identification of the number of qualified.on-duty 9-1-1 calltakers necessary to answer 9-1-1 calls and other telephone [unreadable]
• A methodology should allow for the identification of the number of qualified on-duty Law Enforcement, Fire-Rescue, EMS dispatchers necessary to adequately and safety communicate with, provide command and control assistance and manage an acceptable number of Law Enforcement, Fire-Rescue and EMS units on a given number of radio channels.

4. Working Conditions

Considering the inherently highly stressful and extremely demanding environment of a 9-1-1 PSCC, it is vitally important that the working conditions [unreadable] as possible. To achieve the best working conditions possible requires that communications centers:

• Adopt appropriate staffing methodologies
• Allow for employee breaks
• Allow for employees to eat away from their workstation
• Provide adequate initial and ongoing in-service training
• Utilize work schedules that considers (sic) agency and employee personal and family needs
• Provide employees options for special assignments/other duties.
• Sensitivity to the need for employees to take leave.

5. Retirement

Many 9-1-1 PSCC personnel leave the job after only a few years service often because they realize that given the stressful and demanding nature of the job they can not reasonably expect to stay in the job long enough to retire from the job. To address this dimension of the staffing recruitment and retention issue requires that:

• Length of service time for retirement be reviewed in relation to the physical and emotional demands of work in a 9-1-1 Public Safety Communications Center.
• Retirement benefits should provide direct incentives to the recruitment and retention of communications center personnel.
• Retirement benefits should not substantially differ from that of Law Enforcement, Fire-Rescue and EMS personnel.

6. Recognition

9-1-1 PSCC calltakers/dispatchers valuable contribution to the community and its Law Enforcement, Fire-Rescue and EMS agencies often are unnoticed and unrecognized. This is unfortunate and serves to diminish the importance of the job and lessen the desire of calltakers/dispatchers interest in staying in the job as a career. This lack of recognition combined with other factors adds to the reasons why there is a high attrition rate in these positions. To address this issue:

• 9-1-1 PSCC Supervisors, Managers, Directors should make every effort and seize every opportunity using every means available to bring positive recognition for both daily routine jobs done well and exceptional performance.
• Public safety communications work must be viewed with substantially more value by the public and elected leaders to institute necessary improvements in all areas viewed as causes of problems concerning recruitment and retention in 9-1-1 PSCC.
• 9-1-1 PSCC should regularly participate in community meetings, events, etc. that will expose the community to the valuable role the agency plays in the safety of the community.

7. Hiring Process (Recruitment, Testing and Selection)

The hiring process for 9-1-1 PSCC communications personnel should be deliberate and conducted in a timely professional manner to be competitive with other public and private sector hiring processes.

A. Recruitment

Recruitment of 9-1-1 PSCC personnel must be positive, proactive and deliberate and accentuate the public safety, public service, exciting, life saving, unique and personally satisfying aspect of the job.

• 9-1-1 PSCC should take a active decision making role in all recruitment, testing, interviewing and selection processes.
• Utilize appealing, descriptive materials, i.e. announcement, application, placards, photographs, brochures, videos, Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
• 9-1-1 PSCC personnel needs should be made known to other public safety agencies so that they are aware of the need and can "pass the word".
• 9-1-1 PSCC personnel success stories of lives save, unusual stories, etc. should be handed in the media (sic) so that public understands more fully the important role 9-1-1 calltakers and dispatchers play.
• Recruitment should be ongoing to create a ready pool of potential employees and not wait until there are vacancies to fill thus shortening the time between a vacancy being created and a vacancy being filled.

B. Testing

• Test instruments should be constantly reviewed and evaluated to ensure that they reflect the job classification, position description, contemporary public safety communications practices and identify the ability of an applicant to satisfactorily perform in the position applied for.
• Applicants should be afforded the opportunity to view the 9-1-1 PSCC and interact with on-duty personnel to gain a perspective of that the job (sic) involves to help the applicant understand their own aptitude for the position and to allow them to fully appreciate the 9-1-1 PSCC work environment and requirements.

C. Selection

• Only persons fully meeting all agency requirements should be selected for employment. It may be tempting, considering the vacancies 9-1-1 PSCCs are experiencing, to hire personnel that do not fully meet all agency requirements. To do so would be counterproductive, heighten liability and have a negative impact on current employees.