Dallas hosts job fair to hire new 911 call takers

DALLAS - The city of Dallas is hoping to hire more 911 call takers at a job fair Friday and Saturday.

The call center is chronically short-staffed, and at least two people died while waiting for someone to answer their calls for help earlier this month.

After first blaming the problem on technical issues with one cell phone provider, the city now admits it was understaffed with outdated technology.

Dallas police said they hope to accelerate the hiring process and find people with the right attitude to serve in a high-stress role during odd hours.

“Usually the first person someone talks to in an emergency is the 911 call taker," said Deputy Chief Scott Walton with the Dallas Police Department. "That is their lifeline. That is somebody that has to be calm, compassionate and can listen to what somebody has to say, take information and get it to fire, medical and police. And get a response as quickly as possible."

The job fair will be at DPD headquarters in Downtown Dallas between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

For more information, visit https://dpdbeat.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/career-fair.jpg.