After multiple attempts over the past few years to speed up 911 response times in Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas is putting forward another solution.
“I think once and for all, we need to make sure that we've addressed the 911 issue,” Lucas said.
An ordinance sponsored by Lucas would combine the Kansas City Police Department and Kansas City Fire Department communications operations. “We want to make sure that we're actually having a more efficient process where there are more call takers in one place that can help address the issues,” he told KCUR.
The issues with 911 have been around for years – several solutions have been proposed and then fizzled out. Indeed, the problems have been getting worse.
In June, the average wait time for a caller to KCPD with an emergency was 48 seconds, according to data from the Mid-America Regional Council. Two years ago, the wait time was half that. The average for the Kansas City metro is 15 seconds.
In April, neighbors in South Hyde Park watched thieves ransack a stolen car while they waited on hold with 911.
In 2023, officials touted a menu option that would fix wait times. Callers would press 1 for police, 2 for fire or 3 for EMS.
“In the weeks ahead, we expect to announce that you will never wait on hold to be directed to an emergency agency in our city again,” Lucas tweeted in July 2023.
That plan went down in flames in April after fire department objections. KCFD said it would need more call takers and a larger dispatch center to handle an additional 31,000 calls a year. That would cost $12 million over the next ten years, the department estimated.
The KCFD is not rushing to embrace this latest Lucas plan, either.
“We are aware of this (plan). It is our understanding that this is an exploratory option,” said spokesman Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins. “As with all the options that have been presented there would need to be extensive research done to determine the feasibility.”
Police are also cautious. “In order to ensure fairness for all involved we will withhold any comment on any pending legislation,” KCPD spokesman Capt. Jake Becchina said.
Should the plan advance out of City Council, the first challenge will be making KCPD call takers and dispatchers city employees. Currently, they work for the Board of Police Commissioners, just like everyone in KCPD.
In April, police commissioners approved a 30% pay boost for new KCPD recruits. Starting pay for a new officer is now $65,000 a year. However, the board passed no such a pay raise for 911 employees. If the two communications centers are combined, the city would be in charge of pay. “That allows us from the city side to hire more people faster, to be able to pay them more,” according to Lucas.
Pay may be the biggest obstacle to a 911 solution. Currently, there are 27 open communications jobs in KCPD. Starting pay is about $43,000 a year for call takers and $46,000 for dispatchers.
The fire department said it has five open positions but says offers are out to fill them all. Starting pay there is almost $39,000.
“Right now in one of the more backwards things in all of the world, we have our fire department and our police department competing for the same people and competing sometimes for the same resources,” Lucas said.
Officials say there is a lot of stress for that kind of pay. “The most difficult job I had as a cop” is how Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden describes his time as a dispatcher. The Johnson County Sheriff’s office dispatches for itself and 13 other agencies in the county. Hayden said dispatchers are sworn deputies who, after a big raise last year, make about $63,000 a year.
“We have almost zero turnover in communications,” Hayden said.
Johnson County has a combined police, fire and EMS communications center. Hayden said it is cost efficient because there is only one building with the same administration. It is also more effective in a disaster.
“If (the agencies) can talk to one another it makes a huge difference,” Hayden said.
Independence, Missouri, also has a combined communications center, although there are separate dispatchers for fire and police. Having all dispatchers in the same room allows them to better coordinate during a crisis, according to Interim Fire Chief Charles Lauss. (Lauss leaves next month after a year on the job. Independence just hired James Walker from KCFD as its new fire chief.)
“My experience is, it is more effective,” he said.
Lauss was fire chief in Peoria, Illinois, in 2015 when the legislature required bigger counties to combine 911 operations. He said it saved the county millions of dollars, money that was rolled into better technology and higher salaries. But it’s not without complications.
“It can be territorial. Neither side wants to lose work,” Lauss told KCUR.
The proposed ordinance from Lucas is on the Tuesday agenda of the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee.
