Bull City mayor turns to Durham Tech to help fill 911 center call-takers gap

Durham Tech will create a new course to help fill ongoing staff shortages in the city and county’s 911 center, Mayor Elaine O’Neal announced Wednesday.

Speaking at her first news conference as mayory, O’Neal said she will be meeting with City Manager Wanda Page, Emergency Communications Director Randy Beeman and Durham Tech President J.B. Buxton about creating a pipeline of students to fill call-taker vacancies and improve response times.

Asked how the collaboration came about, O’Neal said: “Well, President Buxton offered, and I personally think that these young folks can help our city with this.”

Durham Tech is developing the 911 center academy as an eight-week, non-credit course, Buxton said.

The course will prepare students to be dispatchers in Durham and Orange counties, where the college has its campuses, and people must be at least 18 years old to enroll.

“She’s made this a real priority and we are looking to support and do our part,” Buxton said of the new mayor.

Response times at the emergency center have gotten longer as the number of 911 calls has increased.

The percentage of calls answered within 15 seconds by the Durham Emergency Communications Center fell from 86% to 78% during the first half of the year. Some calls took up to a minute or more to answer.

The new course will cost about $200, but Buxton says the college will be able to provide financial aid from the city for those who can’t pay. He expects to have the first round of graduates in May 2022.

The 911 center training is the second announcement from O’Neal addressing public safety and rising gun violence.

She, alongside Council Members DeDreana Freeman, Mark-Anthony Middleton and Leonardo Williams will be partnering with others to establish a new sustainable justice movement over the next three to five years under the Hayti Reborn organization. Former Durham Police Chief Steve Chalmers will be the executive director.

The group is seeking out places in downtown Durham for the effort, The News & Observer reported.

This new system will track Durham youth and young adults and begin offering mentoring, therapy and after-school activities. The movement also aims to expunge the records of previous offenders and set them up with jobs with a starting pay of $15 per hour through current local businesses.

There have been 38 people fatally shot, and 44 total homicides, this year in Durham, the most since at least 1995, based on readily available Police Department records, spokeswoman Kammie Michael wrote in an email to The News & Observer.

Mayor’s transition team

In other announcements, O’Neal recently said she is working with a transition team that includes:

▪ Farad Ali, President and CEO, Asociar; former president and CEO, The National Institute of Minority Economic Development; Former Durham City Council member

▪ John F. Burness, chair, Board of Trustees, Durham Technical Community College; retired Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations, Duke University

▪ Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, president and CEO, El Centro Hispano

▪ Donald Hughes, director of Community Voice, Foundation for Health Leadership and Innovation

▪ Danielle Nolen, community engagement and development strategist and nonprofit program manager

▪ Shane Jones, president, Keever and Jones, LLC

▪ Eunice Sanders, co-executive director, Crayons2Calculators

▪ Casey Steinbacher, executive director, Made in Durham; CEO, Casey’s Company; Former president and CEO, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce

This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 5:30 AM.