Colorado Springs police chief tells City Council that call center answering times are better but still not good

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A ongoing shortage of call-takers and dispatchers is the main factor in why call-answering times remain below the national average and the worst among six Front Range law enforcement agencies.

That explanation came from Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez, who updated the City Council on the situation Monday.

The police department's Public Safety Communications Center is authorized to have a staff of 114 but currently had 86 -- a staff shortage of 25%.

The chief said that through August of this year, average 911 call pickup times were more than three seconds faster than last year but still below 2021 times; non-emergency times also were better that 2022 but still below 2021.

He said that he saw noticeable progress during late summer.

“Because of a lot of the efforts we’ve been making, I’m not ready to say the specific reasons why the times are going down," he said. "But we’re starting to see (results). When we were seeing 300-plus calls in the queue, we’re now seeing less than 160 — and that’s really promising for our citizens."

Vasquez said that pay for the center staff is approximately in the middle of what other Front Range departments pay, and the issue may be more about the extensive training that's required for the job, as well as stressful situations employees face from callers every day.

Councilman Dave Donelson argued that paying center employees more would increase the number and quality of candidates who would be more likely to stay on the job longer.

“It doesn’t mean you’re going to go into it just for the money," he said. "But once you’re there, you realize, hey! We’re getting rewarded for doing a hard job — as opposed to not being rewarded for doing a hard job, so I might as well go do (a) less-stressful job (elsewhere)."

However, the proposed 2024 budget for Mayor Yemi Mobolade includes cutbacks for many departments, including the communications center.

Vasquez said that he is working on a variety of solutions -- including offering bonuses at the end of the year and starting a program to help employees better handle on-the-job stress.

"I think the chief is doing a great job," said Council President Randy Helms. "This problem didn't start recently, and we're not going to be able to solve it in just one budget cycle."