AUSTIN, Texas —
The City of Austin is in need of 911 call takers. In the meantime, sergeants from the Austin Police Department (APD) are working overtime to fill in.
The sergeants are volunteering to do this in addition to their full-time jobs.
"There's a kind of staffing emergency or crisis or problem right now, and we're having trouble staffing up certain areas, including call taking," Sgt. Lee Knouse said.
Knouse is normally an evening patrol shift supervisor. But for the past six months, he's worked overtime filling in as a 911 call taker.
"You're in a crisis or having a problem. You pick up the phone, you call 911. Well, if there's a bunch of calls holding because there's no call takers, then obviously that's a problem," Knouse said.
Knouse said the call taker shifts have been a good experience and allowed him to gain a new perspective.
"It's also been good for me to see kind of what they do and the challenges or just what a unique and challenging skill set it is to answer the phone, to listen to some of these problems," Knouse said.
Ultimately, the goal is to hire more people and not need anyone to fill in.
"It can be a stressful job, but it's also really rewarding. I see that there's a lot of job satisfaction through the call takers. I also see that they do have a certain amount of stress, so I think they're really good at kind of reaching out and understanding the stress levels," Knouse said.
Knouse encourages anyone who's able to, to apply to be a 911 call taker and help make a difference.
The sergeants who are working overtime to fill in have pushed APD over its already maxed-out budget. The department budgeted a little over $7.7 million for the entire 2023 fiscal year, and they've already spent more than $13 million in six months.
At the time of publishing, there were nearly 50 vacancies for call takers – that is just about half of the 104 call takers the department needs to be at full staff. Additionally, 16 dispatchers and 7 other positions need filling.
Visit the department's website for more information about how to apply.