This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from Bridge Michigan, sign up for a free Bridge Michigan newsletter here.
When someone in Warren calls 911, the person on the other end might be a police officer filling in. Staffing shortages have grown so severe that dispatch supervisors are relying on every available option to keep phones covered.
“If there is a shortage, we fill it through overtime, but we even have a contingent of officers that are trained,” Lt. John Gajewski of the Warren Police Department told Bridge Michigan. “Our last resort, in only emergency situations, is to pull officers off the road.”
Warren is not alone. Dispatch centers across the country are grappling with staff shortages. So far this year, 74% of dispatch centers reported job openings, according to the National Emergency Number Foundation.
“High turnover, absenteeism, and a 22% training failure rate underscore deep-rooted strains in emergency communication centers,” the foundation said in a recent report highlighting annual survey findings.
It’s not a new problem. About one in four 911 dispatcher jobs in the U.S. was empty between 2019-2022, according to the most recent data from the National Association of State 911 Administrators.
Despite the staffing shortages, dispatch centers must remain fully staffed and operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In Warren, having three people on a shift to take calls and listen to the fire and police radio gives dispatchers enough support to manage calls. But during severe weather events and similar emergencies, when call volumes tend to increase, police officers may assist in the dispatch center.
“The needs of the community are always being met,” said Laura Myers, dispatch supervisor for Warren, which is Michigan’s third-largest city. “Our top priority is getting things dispatched to either the police or fire quickly.”
Warren dispatchers follow a two-week schedule. During “long weeks,” they work at least five 12-hour shifts, and during “short weeks,” they work at least two.
“We would love it if we could grab dispatchers from other agencies and have some experience,” Myers said. “I think those days are gone because everyone is in the same boat as we are.”
Other dispatch centers are facing similar challenges.
The Ingham County dispatch center has filled 42 of its 56 full-time positions, but only 28 of those hires are fully trained to handle every aspect of the job.
A fully staffed shift consists of 11 people answering and dispatching calls. But with only half the staff fully trained, a dispatcher could take more than 100 calls during their shift, which is twice as many as they would typically handle.
“You don’t need to be a mathematician to figure out that it’s pretty rough going when you have a 24-hour, 365-day operation, and the lights can never turn out,” said Darin Southworth, Ingham County’s chief deputy officer. “The people that are here are working tons of extra hours to the point where they have very little work-life balance.”
In an attempt to fix that, the county has relied on temporary employees to fill in the gaps. So far, four have been hired and one person has already started.
“Some may take a couple of shifts and some may take a handful of shifts. That’s worthy of getting them acclimated to this environment to be successful.”
Overtime shifts range from 2 to 12 hours. Temporary employees can only work about 20 hours a week to maintain their temporary status. Southworth said the county plans to use temporary workers for up to a year or until the full-time positions are filled.
“If in the next couple of months we feel that it’s (temporary employees) not serving us as well as we need to … then we may have to expand our options and enlist the help of a temp agency and contract folks for particular hours. That remains to be seen but it’s not out of the question,” Southworth said.
This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
