Fayette County approves three part-time 911 hires and plans dispatch upgrades

Fayette County commissioners voted to approve three part-time hires for the county 911 dispatch center and heard a briefing on operational upgrades intended to improve emergency response. The hires — Randy Wolf, Natalie Young and Tyler Riley — were approved after a motion and second; the board recorded three ayes.

The county was presented information about staffing needs and shift coverage, with particular emphasis on filling the 10 p.m.–6 a.m. shift. The presenter introduced Natalie Young as having prior experience at the Cincinnati police department’s dispatch center and described Tyler Riley as experienced with the center’s Flex software. The board’s vote authorized a +1 44 request to bring the three part-time dispatchers on board.

In the same presentation, staff described recent emergency-planning activity, including a tabletop exercise with regional partners that highlighted training and protocol gaps for incidents such as train derailments and water rescue. The county said it has begun sharing automated run reports with a local news outlet and is evaluating equipment upgrades: the mayor offered to fund new headsets, Scott Jones is pursuing that purchase, and staff are exploring a TV feed so dispatchers can view drone video during incidents. The presenter also said the county is pursuing AskRail access to identify rail-car contents and has added an automated external defibrillator (AED) to the dispatch center. Materials from Ritter Strategic Services, a consultant that evaluates 911 operations, were distributed to the board for review.

The board did not attach conditions to the hires; staff indicated the hires do not come from the general fund and that council hiring-freeze rules apply only to county general employees. No dates for the new hires’ start were specified in the discussion. The next step is routine onboarding and scheduling to cover the overnight shift.