Philly Police made changes after botching a 911 response during a mass shooting, but the radio room remains in crisis

The Philadelphia Police Department has directed 911 call-takers to ask additional questions of callers about the location of their emergencies after authorities botched a response to a call that preceded a mass shooting in Kingsessing.

That change is a direct response to the flap in July, when police received a 911 call about a shooting on the 1600 block of 56th Street. Officers were sent to North 56th Street, three miles away from the crime scene on South 56th Street. Joseph Wamah had been killed, but his body was not discovered until two days later — after the same gunman allegedly returned to the street and shot six more people, killing four of them.

Interim Police Commissioner John M. Stanford, who testified during a City Council committee hearing Tuesday, said call-takers now ask callers whether there is a “directional indicator” for the street they are calling about. Other improvements are underway, he said, including new software systems.

But according to 911 dispatchers, police brass, and frustrated residents who testified Tuesday, the problems in Philadelphia’s radio room run far deeper than unclear addresses. Employees described a unit that is understaffed, underpaid, under-appreciated — and one that has lost workers at an astonishing clip.

And the impact has been devastating, residents said. Maria Rodriguez told Council that her 63-year-old father called 911 more than two dozen times while he was having a stroke earlier this year. No one called back or came to check on him, she said, adding that he is alive “by the graces of God,” but is severely brain damaged.

Another resident, Walter Weber, said he called 911 in September when a large group was burglarizing stores along 52nd Street. He said it took two hours for police to quell the chaos.

“One [call-taker] said to my wife that ‘this is a very dangerous situation, what do you want the police to do about it?’ as if it was a crazy idea for the police to respond,” he said.

The hearing Tuesday, during a session of Council’s Committee on Public Safety, was called by Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who represents West Philadelphia’s Third District. It was the second Council hearing in three years about problems with 911 dispatch. During a December 2020 session, dispatchers complained of plummeting morale due to understaffing and mandatory overtime.

» READ MORE: Philly’s overworked 911 dispatchers are on the ‘brink of a collapse.’ City Council promises fixes.

Since then, the staffing issue has slightly improved, but it has not abated. The Police Department went on a recruiting spree and has hired 355 radio room employees over the last three years. But during that same time, it lost 304 — two-thirds of whom quit.

That’s left the unit that is budgeted to have about 350 employees with fewer than 290, according to Gordon Zimmitt, president of the union that represents 911 dispatchers. Councilmember Jim Harrity described that as “crisis level.”

The swift attrition means employees who remain have had to spend much of their time training new workers, only to see them leave months later. Workers also blamed morale problems on low pay that doesn’t correspond with the stress of the job, the amount of trauma they’re exposed to, or the hours they are expected to work.

Michelle Jordan, who has been a dispatcher for 15 years, described directing police for five hours straight when two officers were shot, one fatally, last month at Philadelphia International Airport. She said it was one example of a traumatic experience that was relayed to her and that she internalized.

“Our job is one of the worst cases of whisper down the lane that you can imagine,” she said, adding that no supervisor thanked her for her work or told her she did a good job.

» READ MORE: Philadelphia police response times have gotten 4 minutes longer, about 20% worse

Tomasz Rog, a senior dispatcher, said the radio room needs “an overhaul,” starting with higher salaries.

“The reason the lack of retention, the inability to have good personnel, is because we’re getting paid $47,000 a year to sit and spend Thanksgiving at 400 North Broad Street,” he said. “I haven’t had Thanksgiving with my children in eight years.”

Stanford said Philadelphia Police dispatchers make a minimum of $42,000 a year, which is 10% less than the average minimum pay among dispatchers at other agencies in Philadelphia and the collar counties. Their pay can max out at about $53,000, or 17% below the average. Police estimated it would cost about $1.5 million a year to match dispatcher pay with the average compensation in the area.

Council members seemed amenable to a pay increase, and noted that call volumes and stress levels in the city are likely much higher than in the suburbs.

Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, who is in line to become the next Council president, said raises “would go a long way.” Gauthier said Council is negotiating a way to appropriate more dollars to dispatcher pay as part of its mid-year budget adjustment process.

“We will never be able to retain and recruit top talent,” she said, “if we keep paying our 911 dispatchers a below-average salary to handle an above-average call volume.”