Atlanta’s mayor wants voters to approve a $400 million referendum to improve public safety.
That includes hiring more 911 operators.
It’s true the city needs to make improvements to public safety structures like their police and fire stations, but they also need more operators in order to make across the board improvements to the 911 system. “This is not an easy job,” 911 Center Director Desiree Arnold told Channel 2's Dave Huddleston.
The city is trying to recruit more 911 operators to help with their response time to emergency calls.
“We are hiring every day,” Arnold said.
During a tour of the 911 center, Huddleston counted 10 or 11 operators answering emergency calls. Some operators, who didn’t want to be identified, said they have a difficult time keeping up with the number of calls that come into the center.
“Right now, we’re at about 82%” Arnold said.