This on-going staffing problem was worsened during 1999 by the record low employment rate in the United States. Even agencies such as the Secret Service began taking out newspaper ads, and large police departments sent their recruitment officers on the road to gather applicants from other states. As the country turns into a technology society, and the focus of workers moves away from job and towards family and leisure time, there are fewer persons willing to work shifts, weekends and holidays, accept low seniority, and endure the stress of being a public safety dispatcher. But as officers increase, dispatchers do not. There is no single answer.
Many states give junior college courses in dispatching and accept non-affiliated students.
But there is no outreach to those seeking a career and who might consider dispatching. There is no national effort among the public safety associations to seed training or career development programs that might generate acceptable candidates. APCO has formed a task force to study the staffing issue, and will present preliminary results at its August annual conference in Boston. They are also publishing a year-long series of articles in its magazine and conducting other programs to spotlight the staffing crisis. We asked dispatchers for their best long-term idea to solve the staffing crisis.