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DEM Warns 911 Answer Rates Below Target, CAD Replacement and Dispatch Hiring Are Multi‑year Priorities
Summary
The Department of Emergency Management told supervisors it needs multiple graduating dispatcher academies to return 911 answer rates to target, flagged instability in the aging CAD system and described a phased transition with on‑site 'CAD lab' training and potential intermittent outages during replacement.
Mary Ellen Carroll, director of the Department of Emergency Management, told the Budget & Appropriation Committee on June 14 that DEM’s FY25 proposed budget is $141 million, with approximately $99 million in general fund support. The agency said 911 operations account for about $49 million of that general fund support and that current emergency‑call answer rates hover in the mid‑70s percent—well below the 90% within 10 seconds standard.
Carroll said the department plans to hold multiple dispatcher academies (targeting roughly 15 trainees per class) to rebuild staffing; officials estimate a multi‑year timeline (roughly two years) to regain fully staffed dispatcher rosters because of high attrition and an academy pass/fail rate that reduces net hires.
DEM also confirmed the city’s Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) platform is beyond its useful life and noted recent outages; the department has built a CAD lab for training and troubleshooting and expects some intermittent instability during the phased replacement. Carroll emphasized fallback procedures exist and manual operation is possible during outages.
Supervisors asked for diversion rates, APOT (ambulance offload time) metrics and more data on workforce and program funding, and DEM agreed to provide more detailed follow‑up to the committee.
