Low pay and high stress lead to a serious shortage of first responders in the Triangle
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Adequate staffing and hiring among first responders has been a long-standing challenge. Two-and-a-half years of the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the situation.
In the Triangle, staffing shortages mirror national trends involving law enforcement and emergency response agencies.
Across the board, agency officials told The News & Observer that hiring and retention challenges stem from insufficiently competitive pay in jobs that are often both stressful and perilous.
Some of those shortages have persisted even as local governments designate more funding to raise pay for these jobs, according to data cited by officials.
Law enforcement agencies
Police departments have emphasized that high-priority calls are still being met despite staffing struggles.
That’s at the expense of lower priority calls for service, which means issues like vehicle crashes, property crimes and gun theft aren’t cracked down on enough by police, said Roy Taylor, a law enforcement consultant and chief of Capitol Special Police.
“Until we figure out how to meet this manpower crisis … people are going to have to get used to a different service delivery level,” said Taylor. “If they’re tired, they’re not working at their best, it’s worrying for officer safety and wellness.”
These shortages go back at least to the early 2000s, according to a January 2022 report by the U.S. Department of Justice.
As an adjunct criminology professor at Meredith College, Taylor said that enrollment in local criminal justice programs at community colleges is low. Public respect for law enforcement has not been good since the May 2020 killing of George Floyd and ensuing protests, he said.
The Raleigh Police Department has had around 100 vacancies among sworn officers since last year out of 800 positions, Lt. James Borneo told The N&O. In August, the force had about 120 vacancies.
Vacancies fluctuate due to retirements, resignations and new classes of officers graduating or coming on board, Borneo said.
“We really are trying hard to rebuild our relationships with our community and with the public, and I’ve got to have (more) officers to do that,” Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said previously.
RPD’s police volunteer program has helped to fill some gaps by allowing citizens to undergo training and assist with duties that include data entry, reporting crimes by telephone and attending special events.
Among its police force of about 430 officers, the Durham Police Department also has at least 100 vacancies, an increase from about 70 a year before, CBS 17 reported.
One recruiting strategy for at least 10 police departments across the Triangle is paying salary bonuses for officers who are bilingual in Spanish, The N&O reported previously.
At sheriff’s offices, vacancies at county jails are problematic for detention officers who have to work mandatory overtime and are increasingly stressed, Taylor noted.
This affects the safety of jail populations and vulnerable inmates who may not be properly supervised, he said.
Almost half of detention officer positions at the Durham County Sheriff’s Office are vacant, according to figures provided by spokeswoman AnnMarie Breen.
Total vacancies increased over the past year to 117 as of October in its detention center, law enforcement division and in civilian positions.
“We now have deputies working in the jail to provide some additional coverage. And so we rotate those shifts around,” Sheriff Clarence Birkhead told The N&O this month.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office, which did not respond to a request for staffing data, had about 120 vacancies in its detention center, CBS 17 reported.
Emergency responders
Officials in Wake, Durham and Orange counties all told The N&O that EMS officials have adapted to being stretched thin on shifts.
“An explosive upper trend of peak demand” among EMS centers that surpasses pre-pandemic levels is challenging when there are vacancies, said Orange County EMS director Kirby Saunders.
Residents with low-priority calls for minor medical problems may wait longer. EMS staff have to stay out in the field longer on calls back-to-back instead of routinely heading back to their stations to stock or maintain their vehicles, he said.
Staffing shortages at 911 call centers also strain police and emergency responses.
An audit of the Durham Emergency Communications Center conducted in June found that the rate of employees leaving the center was almost four times higher than the national turnover rates of 15%.
The audit said the center is answering calls more quickly, but is still short of the standard for response times.
Employees at the Raleigh-Wake 911 Emergency Communications Center told ABC11 that a low starting pay has contributed to high turnover rates. An N&O salary database shows most employees at the Raleigh-Wake 911 center make $35,000 to $40,000 a year.
Wake EMS spokesperson Brian Brooks said their vacancy issues are being solved by a big wave of hires that came after pay raises in the spring.
Durham and Orange County’s EMS centers followed suit and hope that salary increases for EMTs and paramedics will address vacancies they currently face.
Fire departments haven’t been spared — in Orange County, fire departments have been “losing seasoned, well-trained personnel to other departments and the main issue with retaining this staff is pay,” the Orange County Fire Chiefs Association said in an Oct. 25 Orange County commissioners’ meeting.
The Raleigh Fire Department began accepting lateral transfers for the first time to ease vacancies, The N&O reported. The City Council raised their pay by 19% to $15.19 an hour, according to the city budget.
Lateral hires and new academy recruits who will graduate in December are poised to fill all current vacancies by 2023, according to a city spokesperson.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Low pay and high stress lead to a serious shortage of first responders in the Triangle."
