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Prineville dispatch reports 54,512 calls in 2025; city highlights staffing and lengthy training pipeline
Summary
Public safety communications director Katie Kemper briefed council on the Prineville/Crook County PSAP: 54,512 calls handled in 2025 (9,084 9-1-1), a six- to 12-month hiring-to-certification timetable, and the need for wellness supports for dispatch staff.
Katie Kemper, Prineville’s public safety communications director, presented an annual update on the city’s 9-1-1 public safety answering point, describing operations, training and staffing needs. "Last year, we handled a total of 54,512 calls, of which 9,084 were 9-1-1 calls," Kemper told council, and she said the center also processed more than 34,000 nonemergency lines and placed more than 10,800 outbound calls.
Kemper walked council through a dispatch console demonstration and outlined the hiring and training timeline: an initial three-month hiring process followed by a classroom and phased on-the-job academy that can take six to eight months to reach solo certification, with an overall candidate-to-solo timeline of roughly nine to 12 months. She described duties that require multitasking and rapid, high‑accuracy decisions and emphasized resiliency and wellness supports for staff exposed to traumatic calls.
Kemper introduced three newly certified staff members and led them in reciting the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training telecommunicators code of ethics as part of a certification ceremony. Councilors asked clarifying questions about current staffing levels; Kemper confirmed the PSAP operated much of last year with five certified solo dispatchers, leaving vacancies the city is working to fill. The presentation concluded with council praise for the dispatch team and a request for periodic updates as new staff complete training.
