The staffing crisis at Washington DC’s 911 dispatch center has become so severe that the agency is paying its employees bonuses just for showing up for every scheduled shift.
Office of Unified Communications Director Heather McGaffin made the offer to employees in an email Tuesday morning.
“Good morning 911 team – Effective immediately, all 911 employees who show up for all of their scheduled shifts will receive an $800 bonus for the month,” reads the email, which News4 has obtained.
“Staffing is critical to the success of our agency. Unplanned calls of all kinds are on the rise and are causing difficulties for our colleagues as they are constantly stuck, coming in early and being asked to come in on days off,” she continued. “The pilot is simple: you show up for any shift you are assigned and you will receive $800 extra for the month. We are launching today in August.”
The bonus announcement came less than 24 hours after News4’s I-Team reported that call center staffing levels were dangerously low. Last month, the agency’s minimum staffing levels were below minimum 88 percent of the time.
The agency has also acknowledged serious problems with internal computer hardware that have caused the 911 computer system to go offline six times this year, with the most recent outage lasting 20 minutes.
News4 sends breaking news alerts via email. Sign up here to receive breaking news alerts in your inbox.
Two weeks ago, the system went down for two hours. During that time, a Washington family said, they tried to call 911 but couldn’t get through because their five-month-old baby was in medical distress. The baby later died.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
Washington, DC
