HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – During times of emergency, your first instinct is to probably pick up the phone and call 911.
But as Huntsville’s population continues to grow, those emergency calls also grow. This growth has caused a shortage of dispatchers for the Huntsville Police Department.
To combat that shortage, they’ve ramped up recruiting efforts in the past year. Officials told WAFF 48 that those efforts are finally starting to pay off.
The department is currently in its 2024 hiring process, where they had over 400 applicants in the span of two months.
To compare, last year they only had around 550 applicants in the span of 12 months.
Amy Turner with HPD dispatch said they started attending community events and job fairs to help with recruitment. They also started getting the word out that you only have to be 18-years-old and have a high school diploma to apply, which helped with application numbers.
“We’re looking for good, quality candidates, Turner said. “I think that 18 years of age is something a lot of people don’t know and we would really like for the younger people to start applying.
“This can be a career, we have 25-year state retirement, they can make this a whole career and go on and do something else.”
Applicants must also pass a CritiCall test, a background check, a polygraph test, a drug test, a hearing test and an eye test.
So far, they’ve already hired two new dispatchers and they are interviewing over 60 others for open positions.
Turner said this is a step in the right direction, but they are always looking for more people to answer the call.
“If you are able to multitask and you have a heart for service and you want to help people, you want to be somebody that makes a difference, give us a call and ask all the questions you want,” Turner said. “You go home every day feeling good and knowing that you helped somebody.”
The application process for this year is closed, but Turner said it’s never too early to start recruiting for next year.