FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Broward County’s emergency call center is greatly understaffed and the sheriff told county commissioners his agency doesn’t have the money to fill the empty positions.
Sheriff Gregory Tony told commissioners Tuesday that he's also having difficulty retaining dispatchers who can make more money elsewhere.
Some commissioners told him to fix the issues immediately by giving raises.
But the sheriff said he doesn't make random decisions that could cause problems elsewhere.
The issue came to light after a SunSentinel investigation documented thousands of unanswered 911 calls and found that abandoned calls increased 26% from 2019 to 2021.
Records showed there were 14,505 abandoned calls in February.
