SIMI VALLEY : Council OKs 8% Pay Hike for Dispatchers

Simi Valley council members have agreed to raise the salary of police dispatchers by more than 8% because they receive less than their counterparts in nearby cities.

Paul Miller, the former police chief elected to the council last fall, said the city has experienced difficulty in finding good dispatchers in recent years, in part because of the low pay.

“The bottom line is we’ve got to stay competitive to attract good people,” Miller said before Monday’s vote. “It’s clear the city has fallen behind in providing the wages that attract the quality of applicants we’re looking for.”

Currently, the Police Department has five dispatcher vacancies, a shortage that has forced officers to assume some of the duties to staff the seven-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day operation.

The city has paid more than $56,000 a year in overtime costs because of the shortage of trained dispatchers, officials said. Dispatchers now are paid between $24,120 and $33,180 annually. Under the salary increase approved Monday, they will receive between $25,410 and $35,935.

During the past five years, 13 of 22 people hired as dispatchers have quit or been fired, Miller said. “Not everybody can do that job,” he said. “It’s highly stressful work.”