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Dakota 911 reports staffing gains, new tech and stronger resiliency after 2024 outage
Summary
Dakota 911 executive director Heidi Heesrick told the Dakota County Board of Commissioners the center handled more than 291,000 calls in 2024, added telecommunicators, launched non‑emergency online reporting, and upgraded contingency plans after a 2024 network outage.
Heidi Heesrick, executive director of Dakota 911, updated the Dakota County Board of Commissioners on June 3 on the emergency communications center’s 2024 activity, staffing and technology initiatives.
Heesrick said Dakota 911 handled just over 291,000 phone calls in 2024, of which 57% were 911 calls, and that the center “processes a little over 800 calls a day.” She told the board the center is meeting national call‑answering standards and exceeded targets for answering 9‑1‑1 calls within the 15‑ to 20‑second windows used in benchmarking.
The presentation highlighted staffing improvements: Dakota 911 onboarded 18 public safety telecommunicators in 2024, a 17% increase in gross staffing, and added a training program manager to accelerate in‑house certifications. Heesrick said net staffing lags gross hires because of the time required to train new telecommunicators to independent duty.
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