Career opportunities available at the 911 call center

If you’re interested in a rewarding job where you can help people in distress, Fairfax County’s 911 call center has a shortage of call takers.

Fairfax County’s Department of Public Safety Communications hires people right out of high school, retirees, and people looking to change careers.

Kirsten Chandler, a human relations specialist, and Scott Snow, a public safety communicator at the agency, led a tour of the facility for the Mason Police District’s Community Advisory Committee on June 2. 

It’s a stressful job, they acknowledged. Most employees stay five years or less, although some have worked there for many years. Call takers work 12-hour shifts.

There are currently 10 vacancies. The call center is never fully staffed. Call takers answer a total of 1.2 million emergency and non-emergency calls a year.

There were only about 12 call takers during the evening of the CAC visit, though there are more during the day when the call center is busier. There are also eight dispatchers, four supervisors, and four managers per shift.

The starting pay for call takers is $27.27 per hour. Employees must be at least 18 years old and must be a citizen or a lawful resident.

Call takers must complete 12 weeks of classroom training and 12 to 16 weeks of on-the-job training. People are paid during the training period, even though many drop out before they complete the course.

Some of the employees are bilingual, although there is a language interpretation service for callers who don’t speak English.

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If a resident calls the non-emergency number – for something like a code compliance complaint – the call is likely to be answered by an AI bot. The caller won’t be told they’re not talking to a human unless they ask. If the call turns out to be an emergency, it is transferred to a 911 operator.

The 911 call center is located in the McConnell Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center in the Fair Oaks area, where it shares space with the Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management, Fairfax County police and fire dispatch operations, VDOT’s Northern Region Transportation Operations Center, and the state police regional dispatch center.  

Learn more about career opportunities at the Public Safety Communications website.