Nothing on the City Council agenda hinted at there being a shortage of emergency telephone operators, yet person-after-person in Council Chambers spoke about the need for more dispatchers.
The public learned that for approximately the last three months, some dispatchers have had mandatory double shifts almost every day. 16-hour shifts. Some members work over 100 hours each week.
Public safety is the concern. Overtaxed dispatchers could make mistakes with serious consequences. The picture created of the call center was bleak, with morale sinking.
Question from City Council implied that the residency requirement might be why dispatchers are short-staffed. Typing, a skill required for the position, was thought to trip up Hartford hires, but it was said that this training would be provided.
Council 4 AFSCME President Clarke King said the “issue is not manpower, issue is the will to do it.”
What emerged from this segment of public comment was that workers were told 14 additional positions would be filled last year. Then, they were told this would not be in the budget.
About ten minutes of a two hour public comment session were spent on this concern.