The Associated Press
PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) - Police agencies in metropolitan Phoenix are recruiting dispatchers to fill vacancies created by high turnover rates at emergency call centers.
The growth-fueled shortage has prompted agencies such as the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to advertise in publications as far away as Florida.
“We’ve had to become extremely aggressive in our recruiting techniques,” said Patricia Cordova, a civilian commander who oversees pre-employment services for the Sheriff’s Office.
But despite the recruiting campaigns, many newly trained dispatchers quit because of the relentless stress of the job./P>
The dispatchers who do stay, and last the longest, are those who thrive off the pressure that chases others away.
The Phoenix Police Department has 14 vacancies out of 195 authorized positions for call takers and dispatchers.
Most of them have worked there less than five years. About 30 percent have been with the department two years or less.
At the Department of Public Safety, turnover rates declined last year when only 9 percent of the agency’s dispatchers and 911 operators left, said Debbie Henry, communications manager for the DPS. Over the past 10 years, the turnover rate has averaged 22 percent at the agency.
So far this year, there has been a 17 percent turnover rate, and Henry still struggles to recruit enough dispatchers, particularly in Flagstaff.
“We pretty much have the bare minimum of what we need,” said Henry, who currently has 87 dispatchers and 911 operators on staff.