D.C. 911 Call Center Offers Monthly Shift Bonus

The District of Columbia's 911 call center is offering a monthly bonus of $800 to employees who show up for all their scheduled shifts, in an effort to address severe staffing shortages. This initiative follows a series of critical system failures, including a recent incident where a five-month-old baby died during a two-hour outage. Reports indicate that the center has been operating with dangerously low staffing levels, with 88% of shifts understaffed in July. The Office of Unified Communications (OUC) has faced ongoing issues with IT failures, misdirected crews, and call delays, leading to public outrage and calls for better management. The bonus plan underscores the urgency of the situation and the city's attempt to improve agency performance amidst growing public safety concerns.