After reading the article, the way they’re doing it makes more sense than I initially thought. I supported a local dispatch office–or PSAP as they’re typically called–for awhile and I was having a hard time picturing how a remote setup would work, given all the requirements that go into having a certified, regulation compliant PSAP.

Only a handful of their employees are remote, and the one that’s fully remote outside of the county still had to complete their 4 months of training onsite before being able to work remotely. Additionally, their IT and radio techs, in conjunction with the dispatch software developer, had to rework all the software and hardware to work remotely. And lastly, the remote employee(s) seems to have to prove their Internet is fast and reliable; however, I’m not sure how they’re verifying that requirement. It says their full remote employee in North Carolina rents a small, secure office, but I think he just does that because his house is very rural.

Anyway, the article headline is a little bit misleading. Kitsap 911 did a lot of amazing legwork in proving a hybrid model can work, and I’m honestly going to bring this up at the next meeting we have with our public safety folks (I no longer support them, but I still keep in touch with the teams that do). It’s definitely exciting stuff, as the dispatcher staffing crisis is a real struggle for many counties in the US. It’s a very stressful, demanding job that typically has long hours and is definitely not paid enough (which is likely the primary reason for staffing shortages).