Hiring Spree, Baked Goods and Fresh Paint: How Dallas Police Say They're Getting 911 on Track

Dallas police officials said Wednesday that they've cured many of the problems in the city's long ailing 911 call center after wait times soared this year and possibly contributed to a pair of deaths.Executive Assistant Chief David Pughes said during a City Council briefing that police have used more aggressive hiring tactics and made efforts to improve morale and working conditions for call takers. The average 911 call is now answered within 2 seconds after the average hold time shot up to 22 seconds on average earlier this year. Two families said earlier in the year that even longer 911 wait times may have contributed to the deaths of loved ones. On some days late last year and early this year, massive call spikes left some callers on hold and unable to reach an operator. City officials blamed the troubles on a perfect storm of their own staffing shortages, outdated technology and issues with wireless carrier T-Mobile.Police and city officials vowed to fix the problems -- admitting that previous years' attempts to fix the beleaguered 911 call center weren't robust enough.  Continue reading...