The mayor of Missouri's biggest city is taking extra steps to incentivize residents to become 911 dispatchers as the city grapples with delayed police response times amid staffing shortages.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas joined "Fox & Friends" Thursday to discuss his concerns surrounding the dispatcher shortage and how he is working to reverse the trend.
"It is horrible that we have people that call 911 are sometimes placed in an answering service," Lucas told Griff Jenkins. "So you get a voicemail in Kansas City, and they say, ‘Please hold. Your call will be answered.’ It is something that is very serious and significant."
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"And the concern isn't just from calls that are coming in now, but deterring people from calling 911 when they have an emergency," he continued. "It's something that we do not want to do, and it's why we think that dire measures are needed to address this very important issue."
The median salary for public safety telecommunicators is around $46,670 per year, which amounts to around $22.44 per hour, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Lucas attributed the shortage the city is facing to low pay, which he vowed to reverse for those willing to work as operators.
The mayor said he would also offer a $5,000 signing bonus to boost the number of 911 dispatchers, but the incentives don't stop there.
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"In addition to the other incentives, better hours. So instead of just having to work mandatory overtime, which often happens… particularly if you have children that are very incompatible to being at home, making sure we're finding more flexible hours for folks," Lucas said.
"Making sure we give them better work environments and more than anything, making sure they know that there are good promotional opportunities at the police department and frankly, beyond to the city," he continued.
According to the National Emergency Number Association, there is a 30% shortage of 911 dispatchers nationwide at a time when crime continues to ravage communities across the country.
Lucas argued the pay is often not high enough given the intensity of the job and its broader role in assuring public safety.
"I think sometimes it's overlooked just how hard this job is," Lucas said. "You're on the phone with people in sometimes the most tense situations in their lives and including in life and death situations. Too often I think the pay has been too low. So that's why we're trying to say not only will you be paid well, there will there be good benefits, and it will be a good quality of life, but frankly, that we'll thank them in more ways too."
"Just in the last few years, we've had more attention to the work of law enforcement," he continued. "I think it's important that we look to the work of our emergency dispatchers to ensure that they're also appreciated, both in pay, in support, in benefits."
