It’s taking Tri-Cities 911 dispatchers longer to answer your calls for help. Here’s why

The Tri-Cities 911 emergency dispatch center is operating with only about half of its staff, causing some delays in answering non-emergency calls.

Center leaders are worried about burnout for the remaining staff, who have worked more than 1,300 hours of overtime during the first six months of this year.

Kim Lettrick, manager for the Southeast Communications Center (SECOMM), is concerned what will happen if the center can’t find people to fill the 18 empty positions.

“At this point we’re still able to perform,” she said. “We’re trying really hard to make those safety calls a priority.”

SECOMM handles all 911 calls in Benton and Franklin counties for fire, police and sheriff’s agencies in the counties.

The operators handle nearly 1,800 calls a day or an average of 74 calls an hour, the overwhelming majority for police and sheriff’s departments.

When it’s fully staffed, the emergency center has 42 full-time spots and four part-time working on the phones and radios.

And with only a little over half of its normal dispatchers, the center is prioritizing emergency calls.

That means when there are a lot of emergency calls, people calling about items that aren’t happening at moment have needed to wait to talk with someone.

That can involve burglaries that aren’t happening immediately, reports about scams and requests for contact by a police officer.

The agency hasn’t tracked how often or how long those calls have been put on hold, but Lettrick said it’s happening more often than it used to. So far, they have been able to get back to those callers quickly.

The cutbacks have the most impacts on the agencies that use SECOMM, Lettrick said.

That includes sometimes having to close a “data” channel, which means not being able to help an officer to check information, such as a driver’s record or for possible warrants.

That work has been passed back to police officers or onto other dispatchers.

“We are trying really hard to make sure that none of these things make an impact to the community,” Lettrick said.

Widespread problem

SECOMM isn’t the only dispatch center struggling with finding employees. Staffing issues forced the Washington State Patrol to close a Wenatchee dispatch center.

Prior to COVID there was a 15 to 20% vacancy rate nationwide among emergency dispatch centers, April Heinze of the National Emergency Number Association told NWPR. That number has risen to 30% nationwide.

Pierce County’s South Sound 911 also has struggled with recruiting people, the Tacoma News Tribune reported in January. And the mandated overtime cost at least $1 million more in 2021 than the year before.

The Tri-Cities center struggled particularly with low staffing shortly after the Benton and Franklin dispatch centers merged in 2018, Lettrick said.

While not directly tied to the consolidation, the Mid-Columbia dispatch center saw a decline in employees through attrition.

They were getting positions filled, but then the recent labor shortages that have plagued all law enforcement agencies and many U.S. businesses also struck SECOMM just as hard, Lettrick said.

Then as people left, the high stress of the position combined with lower staffing levels pushed more people to take different, higher paying jobs locally.

And Lettrick is concerned it could get worse.

The center has been working on trying to keep current staff happy, including offering help through employee assistance programs.

“I can’t say enough positive things about (the SECOMM employees). They’re just amazing,” she said.

Hiring push

About 6 million 911 calls are made every year in Washington state, according to the Emergency Management Division of the Washington Military Department.

The department produced a video and created a special website, Wa911jobs.com, with a list of the 911 agencies statewide.

And 911 centers across the state are working on plans to boost recruitment. Pierce County is planning on a 911 recruitment event and Tri-Cities officials hope to participate.

While SECOMM doesn’t have a specific hiring event planned, it’s looking to spread the word.

“It’s a really good profession,” Lettrick said. “It’s a good opportunity for people who aren’t looking to go to college. This is a secure position. It’s fairly stable ... We’re providing a meaningful service to our community.”

The starting wage for the spots are nearly $27 an hour, according to a recent Richland police Facebook post. People are asked to have one year of customer service experience, a working knowledge of Microsoft Word and Outlook, and data entry skills.

They also need to pass a background check, that includes a job suitability assessment, integrity interview and psychological exam.

Apply at wearerichland.org.

This story was originally published September 26, 2022 at 5:30 AM.