NORFOLK, Va. — Being a 911 dispatcher is more than just sitting at a computer and answering phones.
“It’s a rewarding career," said Norfolk Emergency Response and Preparedness Director Jim Redick.
The city of Norfolk was short 26 dispatchers as of Dec. 6.
“It is more than normal, but unfortunately it is par for the course with the time that we’re seeing," Redick explained. "Not only regionally, but nationally."
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The center is so short-staffed, no dispatchers were able to be interviewed for this story.
An agreement approved by Norfolk City Council Tuesday is what Norfolk Emergency Response and Preparedness Director Jim Redick says is the first step toward the center being able to work with dispatch centers in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Portsmouth. Each would be able to get access to the others call data in real time and help with calls.
The hope is this will decrease the wait time when calling 911.
In Norfolk, that time can be multiple minutes.
“We meet the standard of within 15 seconds answering 58% of the time," said Redick. "Beyond that, it might take a minute or two and sometimes longer than that."
Other steps are also being taken to address the dispatcher shortage in Norfolk, including organizational changes and new keyboards.
"You have to be able to type around 30 words per minute," Redick explained. "Our Generation Z folks don't necessarily know how to type unless it's with their thumbs. So now, we're working with our IT department to get in some thumb keyboards to see how that might work."
The centers working together could help prevent situations like what Portsmouth mother Crystal Johnson experienced.
“We were crying, we were screaming. It was awful," Johnson told News 3 in March, 2023 when discussing her situation.
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She told News 3 she called 911 in Portsmouth multiple times when her son needed help but no one answered.
At a Portsmouth City Council meeting in which 911 call responses were discussed, Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins admitted sometimes no one picks up and attributed the issue to vacancies in their 911 call center.
“The fire chief and I are going to work out a plan to get additional individuals to work in that capacity, whether it be injured individuals, walking wounded, or walk-in volunteers," Jenkins emphasized. "The system will be fixed."
Redick said it will likely take a few years for all of the cities part of the new agreement to be working together like they want to be.
"My understanding is not all localities have still signed on or at least invested the appropriate funds for the consultant to really work with them and put that together," Redick explained.
