The D.C. Council unanimously passed emergency legislation Tuesday that could help solve an ongoing staffing shortage at the 911 call center.
The bill, which had nine cosponsors, allows retired firefighters and police officers to work as call takers and dispatchers without losing any pay from their pensions.
As recently as October, just less than half of all of the shifts were fully staffed, according to data published by the D.C. Office of Unified Communications.
At-large Councilmember Christina Henderson believes the problem could be solved with this legislation.
“I think by having retired firefighters and police officers who’ve been out on the field, they can assess a situation from a phone call and better help to get speedy responses and effective responses,” she said.