ATLANTA — Staffing shortages impacting call response times have been an issue plaguing Atlanta's 911 Call Center for some time now, but some are hoping new cash bonuses will help.
On Tuesday, leaders approved legislation to allocate $100,000 dollars for bonuses for new hires for the Atlanta Police Department's E911 Communication Center.
Gina Pagnotta, the union president representing the city of Atlanta employees has been concerned about staffing issues at the call center for years, saying delayed call response times are directly related to a lack of manpower.
“Any department or any call center that has a staffing issue, they will have response delayed times," Pagnotta said.
The council approved $100,000 for bonuses of up to $10,000 - but according to APD, its leadership will determine the bonus amounts.
Pagnotta says Tuesday's move by the city council to approve funding for cash bonuses for new 911 call center employees is desperately needed, but that leaders need to now address the pay of current employees.
"We also need to talk about the ones that are there, that have been there, have fought through all of this COVID that are still getting sick, that have fought through all of this understaffing," Pagnotta said.
Last year, a $15 million investment was approved by voters to address infrastructure issues at the city's call center that resulted in power outages and unanswered calls.