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Taos County 911 director warns call volumes have surged; staff urges additional hires
Summary
County 911 director Roberto San Jose told commissioners that dispatch and emergency calls have risen since 2017, with dispatch calls reaching about 31,000 in 2024 and EMS calls nearly 4,500, and staff urged hiring more dispatchers and responders to handle rising high-stress incidents.
Roberto San Jose, Taos County's 911 director, presented call-data trends showing substantial increases in calls for service across dispatch, EMS, fire and law enforcement and urged commissioners to consider staffing increases.
"We're doing about 31,000 [dispatch] calls," San Jose said, pointing to growth since 2017 and a noticeable jump in 2024. He laid out service-level details: dispatch calls for service average roughly 2,300 per month, the sheriff's office averages several thousand calls per year, and EMS showed a jump to about 4,496 calls in 2024. San Jose emphasized that many call types are high stress and time-consuming for dispatchers, including overdoses, domestic disturbances and unresponsive-person calls.
Commissioners and agency officials raised operational questions about geo-verification of addresses, alarm-company practices, burn permits and whether alarm companies should first contact keyholders. An agency official pressed for more staffing: "I would really ask you guys to look into hiring some more," noting some shifts need two or three additional dispatchers during day hours and that fire and EMS also need more staff to match rising call volumes.
San Jose offered to provide the commission with the underlying data and presentation slides for public distribution. Commissioners asked staff to consider recruitment and resource planning in light of the numbers and the county's emergency-response needs.
