FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A police dispatcher shortage is causing a crisis in Broward County.
On Tuesday, local leaders met to discuss solutions to tackle the shortage being felt in the county.
The short-term solution is going to be the approval of $5 million that will be used to hire new dispatchers and give raises to those already working.
Over the past few years, dispatchers start a career in Broward County, and they quickly realize they can make more money working in other counties, such as Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, which prompts them to leave.
The average time period for a person who is hired in Broward County as a dispatchers at a 911 call center is 200 days.
Local leaders are trying to fix the issue of dispatchers leaving to other locations.
The long-term solution that was discussed is to have a large study to figure out the best way to handle 911 communication centers in Broward County.
Immediately, leaders know that they have to hire more people because roughly 20% of the positions are currently not filled, which means the people that are active dispatchers are working long hours and extra days.
A vote to appropriate $5 million is set to happen Tuesday afternoon, which is expected to easily pass.
“I’m supportive of giving these funds on a temporary stopgap measure because we have to do something right now, and this money will give the sheriff the opportunity to prove that they can improve this,” said Broward Commissioner Steve Geller. “We have not known until all of these news stories, nobody had told us that this was an issue.”
It’s been so bad in some cases that some calls have been going unanswered.
Back in January, a 3-month-old baby died when he stopped breathing during a nap, the family called 911 repeatedly.
A Hollywood woman lost her home in a fire; she also couldn’t get a hold of 911.
The county hired a firm to look for long-term solutions.
“We will compare the system to best practices, to comfortable communities and against national standards that exist,” said a man from the firm.
Tuesday’s meeting was cordial. However, tensions were high during a meeting that took place early May.
“Same [expletive] every year,” said Commissioner Mark Bogen during the meeting that took place early May.
“How many times have you had to extract somebody from a burning building or put your ass on the line when someone is getting shot at?” said Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony to Bogen during the May meeting.
For now, it’s immediate relief while a search for a permanent solution continues. Tony is grateful for the assistance.
“I know this was a delicate dance to trying to figure out how do we make this thing move? A lot of tensions and stress, but we appreciate you guys coming through for us,” said Tony.
The firm will review their procedures, look at other cities and counties that are roughly the same size and then come back with some options.
It’s unclear when they will have that done.
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