The Pierce County Law Enforcement Committee on Feb. 11 approved temporary extra pay for 911 dispatchers to address a staffing shortage that has resulted in dispatchers working long hours and creating a situation that county Emergency Director Christine McPherson said is “not sustainable.”

The committee approved extra shift pay of $5 added to base wage for hours worked beyond 96 hours per pay period. The extra pay would take effect as of Jan. 26 and remain in effect until 75 percent staffing, totaling at least nine trained staff, are on the job. In addition, the committee approved a boost in training pay from $1 to $2 per hour spent training new staff.

McPherson said the dispatch center is facing a staffing crisis and dispatchers are overworked. The center has 12 authorized positions. As of Feb. 11, eight of the positions were filled, with two being new hires, and three were on family medical leave, McPherson said.

A report she provided to the committee said current staff are working 12-hour shifts six or more days per week, with average overtime totaling 25 hours per 84-hour pay period.

One person on staff worked 745 hours of overtime in 2024, while another worked 640 overtime hours last year, McPherson said. For the Dec. 28 pay period, one employee worked 145 hours, according to figures in her report.

Dispatcher Wendy Fleury told the committee, “it’s been a very tough year.” She said the staffing shortage has been so acute that two of her co-workers reported to work while ill. “We go to our job giving up everything we have to serve the citizens,” Fleury said.

To show what dispatchers sometimes must deal with on the job, McPherson played a recording of a call to the center, during which the dispatcher remained calm while a man yelled at her with harsh, profane language.

“This job is hard,” McPherson said.

There are several reasons for the staffing shortage, she told the committee. Between 2022 and 2024, three dispatchers left to take jobs with better hours and pay. Five hires between 2023 and 2024 did not complete their training, while three others offered positions turned them down because of pay, according to her report.

She said Pierce County’s pay level of $23.65 per hour is $2 to $4 per hour less than dispatchers earn in Dunn, St. Croix and Polk counties.

If the county’s pay scale is not competitive, staffing will run short, Supervisor Scott Bjork commented.

In response to questions from Supervisor Dale Auckland, McPherson said it would not be feasible for Pierce County to borrow dispatcher staff from neighboring counties because they operate different equipment.

For long-term solutions, McPherson’s report recommended a compensation classification review that recognizes dispatchers as first responders, aligns pay with actual responsibilities, adds a one-year probation period, and considers “bell curve” staffing to start hiring and training ahead of turnover. Training takes 16 to 20 weeks.

Supervisor Jon Aubart said long-term solutions could be considered as part of the 2026 budget process.

After the meeting, McPherson said the dispatch center will hold an open house during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, April 13-19, to recruit potential new hires and educate the public on the dispatch center’s work.

In other matters, Sheriff Chad Koranda told the committee that the Sheriff’s Office’s practices regarding immigrants has not changed since the change in the federal administration. Koranda detailed for the committee his response to an inquiry from Supervisor Michael Kahlow. Kahlow posted Koranda’s response to the River Falls community Facebook page on Jan. 30.

Koranda’s full response, as posted on Facebook, said: “We cannot profile an individual based on skin, race or believed immigration status. If an individual has contact with a law enforcement officer, we have the same duty to identify them if the circumstances warrant it. If while identifying the individual we are alerted to a criminal immigration violation they can be arrested. No different than anyone else. The difference here is simply the MEDIA and false NARRATIVES. Yes, easy for me to say in my position and I worry about the mental toll this is taking on many in society. That is why I'm trying to educate as many people as possible. Being illegally present in the U.S. or failure to depart after expiration of a visa is a Civil Violation and we cannot enforce that.”

Koranda told the committee that the Sheriff’s Office is not profiling people to check immigration status. “We can’t do that, we don’t do it,” he said.

Koranda added that the Sheriff’s Office believes in respectful treatment. “If you’re a good person, we’ll treat you with respect,” he said.

On budget issues, Koranda said the Sheriff’s Office budget is looking at a possible net deficit of about $109,000. Among the causes, he said, were extra traffic control resources for the Highway 10 construction project, overtime pay, and transport costs for mental health crisis response.

The committee approved a motion referring the possible deficit to the Finance and Personnel Committee to address with contingency funding.