“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” said WWL’s Newell Normand when New Orleans City Council member JP Morrell revealed this week. “Say that again?”
“We were told today that the starting salary for a 911 switch operator is roughly $16,000 and they can make as much as $19,000. And literally everyone on the council just went... you heard... a large intake of breath,” Morrell said.
Another council member remarked that this salary range is less than what lifeguards are paid at some city pools. Morell said that, even though the operators would need a 28% pay increase to remain competitive, that there was only a 10% increase included in a budget request.
“It’s one of the most difficult jobs in law enforcement – is dispatch,” said Normand, who has served as the Jefferson Parish Sheriff. He said dispatchers hold the lives of officers in their hands.
Morrell said he was particularly concerned with the salary issue since 911 dispatchers are supposed to follow up on calls to make sure they were resolved. Last month, WWL reported on an investigation that found serious calls in New Orleans often get downgraded.
Orleans Parish Communications District Director Karl Fasold said “the problem dovetails with the lack of officer power the police department has been dealing with for years now,” per the WWL report.
Normand said this issue is evidence that Mayor LaToya Cantrell is “dangerous” and that the council needs to oversee appointments. This summer, Tyrell Morris, the former director of the Orleans Parish Communications District, resigned. Morrell said Fasold has a large hole to dig the district out of.
Listen to Normand and Morell’s talk here.