Hundreds of 911 emergency calls being dropped last week because because call takers were furloughed should not happen again after the D.C. Council passed a bill Tuesday allowing the call takers to spread their furlough time out.
Most District workers are required to take four furlough days this year to save the cash-strapped city $19 million. The first furlough day was President’s Day, and it left the 911 call center with just three of the 16 call takers it typically has in the early morning hours of Feb. 22. About 200 calls were dropped as a result.
The Washington Examiner has reported that the mayor’s office was warned of the potential problem weeks before, but did not act.
At-large Councilman Phil Mendelson introduced the bill to fix the problem Tuesday morning. It allows some public safety civilian employees to take spread out their furlough time so the agencies they work for won’t be understaffed. Police officers and firefighters are already exempt.
