Lawmakers told Utah has crisis with its 911 system
As a result of the report, the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee voted to "reaffirm" its position that dispatchers deserve a salary increase. The starting salary for dispatchers, for example, could jump about $1 from slightly less than $12 per hour.
"You're still in a crisis," Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, said about the impact of that size of an increase. "We need to correct this."
The Department of Public Safety is looking for more career-minded, better-educated applicants for open dispatcher positions, but of the dozens who apply for some of the jobs, few actually end up taking and passing the required test.
"We want professionals," said Carol Groustra, chief of the Department's Communications Bureau.
In her report to the committee, Groustra said those who do stick with the job do so less for the pay and more because they believe they are making a difference in people's lives.
Compounding the turnover problem among dispatchers is the state's low unemployment rate and availability of higher paying jobs in other areas that don't require a lot of education or experience, according to Rep. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden.
Legislators were reminded of a case two years ago in Provo where a reserve dispatcher was fired following the death of a man who called 911 for help. The inexperienced dispatcher allegedly made several errors on that call, which included sending emergency crews to a wrong address.
"It is a question of life or death," said Groustra.
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com
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