Chatham 911 director discusses improvements at Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting

Drew Favakeh, Savannah Morning News
·2 min read

During a Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) meeting last Tuesday night, Chatham 911 Director Diane Pinckney announced that she was implementing multiple improvements to the 911 center.

Among the improvements:

  • Conducting remote pre-employment testing during hiring process

  • Hiring additional call takers

  • Adding an evening shift 911 coordinator

  • Conducting employee focus groups, which are currently underway

  • Implementing additional pay for staff working the weekends

  • Implementing differential pay

  • Replacing chairs, flooring and monitors

  • Constructing the non-emergency call center

  • Preparing to upgrade the 911 phone system and upgrading to the Next Generation 911 Center. “That upgrade will take months; I’m not sure how many months," said Pinckney. "We’ll keep you abreast."

  • Groundbreaking for the new multi-agency public safety building. According to Chatham County Public Information Director Catherine Glasby, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Multi-Agency Public Safety building is slated for May 30, and the expected completion date of the building is June 2026.

More: 'It's toxic': Chatham 911 Center employee survey alleges lack of training, faulty technology

More: With rise in complaints about Chatham 911, officials details staff shortages, mapping issues

More: Had trouble reaching 911? Chatham County attributes abandoned calls to technical glitches

911 operators receive emergency calls at the Chatham County 911 Call Center on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
911 operators receive emergency calls at the Chatham County 911 Call Center on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.

The DNA meeting occurred one week after the Savannah Morning News published the results of a survey of Chatham 911 employees, which contained allegations that the call center is a toxic workplace, that they don't receive enough training and pay, and are forced to use faulty technology, including a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system implemented in October 2023.

“A lot of the things in that survey that some of the staff was complaining about, we had already started taking action on. Once the focus group comes up with some solutions or ideas, then we'll take a look at those ideas that they have. And if we can, we'll act upon them,” said Pinckney, who spoke publicly about the results of the staff survey for the first time.

Chatham 911 faces increased scrutiny for unanswered calls, long wait times for ambulance dispatches, and complaints about lack of attention and urgency by emergency medical technicians, as detailed in a Board of County Commissioners workshop in mid-January. The workshop also revealed that staffing shortages coupled with a high number of calls from both residents and tourists, some that are not emergencies, has hampered Chatham 911's efficacy and efficiency.

DNA president David McDonald said he received complaints from residents over the weekend about abandoned calls. “There are legitimate problems,” said McDonald.

“As far as the abandoned call rate is concerned, with a novel system, we will have an automatic call distributor,” said Pinckney. “So, that will help us out a lot because it's going to go to the next person in the queue, depending on where you are in that chain. And if that person is unavailable, they have to mark themselves unavailable. That's one of the advantages of the new system.”

Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@Gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Chatham 911 director speaks at Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting