San Francisco launched its new multimillion-dollar 911 dispatch center a few months ago, but people who work there say the facility has had problems from the start.
If someone calls 911, who cares if they get help quickly? For sixteen years, Burt Wilson has been answering these calls, day in and day out.
“It’s a great job to be a coordinator. You literally help people in their time of need,” he said.
But as 911 Dispatchers Union President Wilson said behind the scenes at the city’s Department of Emergency Management, there is a complex set of challenges and problems that will take time and money to solve.
In April, the city unveiled its new and improved 911 dispatch center. The $9 million renovation was funded by a bond approved by voters four years ago. The renovation included 55 new work stations, ergonomic seating and a state-of-the-art facility.
But Wilson says most of these improvements, while necessary, were merely cosmetic.
“It almost looks like lipstick on a pig,” he said.
The day after the grand opening, Wilson said the center’s computer system crashed for two and a half hours. The system problem forced dispatchers to resort to the so-called ‘manual mode’.
“When a call comes in, everything is written down on a piece of paper. It’s given to a runner so they can take it to a police station or a fire station,” he explained.
Wilson said this wasn’t the only time and estimates there have been six to eight crashes since then. Some system crashes have lasted up to four hours.
Mary Ellen Carroll, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, said the computer system is nearing the end of its life. There is a larger $44 million plan to upgrade, but that won’t happen for another two years.
“There has been no impact on the public or on the delivery of services and it prepares us for much worse scenarios. For example, if we were to lose a massive power outage, we are pretty much in manual mode,” she said. .
The goal of 911 dispatchers is to answer 95% of calls within 15 seconds. According to the most recent data available, San Francisco in February accounted for 73% of the 1,850 calls received that month.
“If you look at the average number, half of our calls are answered within three seconds,” Carroll said.
Wilson believes the department is not doing enough to recruit and retain employees. He said that since 2019, more than 60% of those who completed the training have left.
“It’s kind of hard to keep them here when you can’t get days off,” he said.
San Francisco is trying to address staffing issues at its shipping center, where about 40 positions remain open.
The city is hiring, but each recruit must complete 16 months of training before being ready for the job. The salary range for a San Francisoc 911 dispatcher is between $106,000 and $135,000. Interested parties can register on the SF.gov website.
