Los Gatos faces police dispatcher shortage
The Los Gatos Police Officers Association is calling for town officials to urgently address the department’s dispatcher shortage.
The Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department has historically been budgeted to have eight dispatchers who handle 911 calls, in addition to fielding information calls to the department’s main line and coordinating with officers and responders in the field. As of now, the department has only three dispatchers on duty.
Bryan Paul, president of the Los Gatos Police Officers Association, said that although the department has the budget for eight dispatchers, they haven’t had more than seven positions filled at any one time since 2000.
Over the course of the pandemic, three of the department’s dispatchers resigned and one retired, leaving three on duty and two in training. In August, town officials did not offer the dispatchers union a raise, voting to increase per diem pay the following month in an effort to fill the gaps in the department.
According to a salary schedule approved by the town in January, hourly communication dispatchers can earn between $36.98 and $47.20 per hour.
Paul said the reasons behind the current dispatcher shortage go beyond the COVID-19 labor shortage. He cites a shrinking budget and alleged attempts by town officials to reduce costs by cutting investments into department personnel. He said open positions throughout the department are often not filled.
“When you don’t replace people … then you end up with working overtime and you end up with this ongoing cyclical shortage,” Paul said.
Paul said the dispatchers on staff are consistently overworked due to understaffing. He said they’re having to wear their headsets on bathroom breaks to avoid missing calls, skipping lunches and not taking breaks.
But he’s also concerned with public safety impacts. He said a dispatcher shortage essentially means, “My life is in danger, my group’s life is in danger, the public’s in danger.”
In the event of an emergency, Paul said, the department is inevitably flooded with calls. With so few people operating the lines, some emergency situations may not receive immediate attention.
“This is an impossible job,” Paul said. “How can you answer 30 phone calls and also talk to five police officers on the street? Can you do that all at once? No, you cannot.”
Town Manager Laurel Prevetti wrote in a September report to the mayor and town council that the need to address the dispatcher shortage was urgent, citing the potential for burnout among current employees.
“The chief is accountable for the use of the police department’s budgeted funds, including the filling vacant budgeted positions,” Prevetti told another news agency. “The town has not implemented any hiring freezes or other budgetary measures requiring any department (including police) not to spend the money allocated in the budget.”
Los Gatos isn’t the only South Bay town facing a dispatcher shortage. Emergency dispatchers in San Jose recently demanded the city council act to increase the number of workers to manage the high volume of calls.