DC 911’s call center to offer $800 bonus to employees who show up for work

WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — D.C.’s Office of Unified Communications (OUC) will offer 911 dispatchers who show up for all scheduled shifts each month an $800 bonus, D.C. councilmember Brooke Pinto’s office confirmed Tuesday.

Staffing shortages have plagued the OUC for years, and back in July of this year, only eight shifts of 66 met targeted staffing levels, according to the office’s online dashboard.

Councilmember Pinto told DC News Now in a statement Tuesday that she’s urging the agency to explore additional solutions and incentives to improve staffing levels, including better compensation for people doing the important work of answering 911 calls.

The $800 bonus offer comes amid not only concerns over staffing but over ongoing computer and tech issues at the OUC.

“The place has been in crisis for a long period of time. It’s only getting worse. In fact, I’ve said for a while that this recent period is maybe the worst I’ve seen it 911 in the District in the more than 40 years I’ve covered it. It’s in bad shape, and no one seems to be addressing it,” said long-time local public safety advocate and watchdog Dave Statter.

He said he’s talked to employees at OUC who have described a tough working environment.

“They know how desperate it is in there. Many of those people were forced to work extended overtime on their shift. They’re pretty beleaguered, and some of them have gone to other 911 operations,” said Statter.

He’s calling for more transparency at OUC as staffing issues and tech outages stack up, delaying response times. According to recent data from this past Sunday – only 56% of 911 calls were answered in 15 seconds or less and 321 callers hung up the phone after waiting more than 15 seconds.

“No one seems to be willing to tell the truth about what’s going on inside. They continue to cover up what’s happened,” said Statter.

Simon Godwin with the Shakespeare Theatre Company downtown said the city should do whatever it takes to make sure the center is staffed.

“I’m all for it. I think anything that makes sure those people are there, ready to help when needed is money well spent,” said Godwin.

In a statement to DC News Now on Tuesday, a DC OUC spokesperson said in part, “We appreciate how hard our team at OUC are working and will continue to acknowledge and reward those efforts. Staffing is crucial to the success of the agency, and we will continue to explore ways to enhance agency performance while being good stewards of District resources.”

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