Councilmember Jamie Gauthier met with press at the 911 call center at 400 North Broad Street to discuss improvements to the center’s operations and new benefits for its employees.
Amongst the items touted by Gauthier included a 10% pay increase for dispatchers, which brings them near the salaries of dispatchers in neighborhing counties. Attrition has been a problem in the ranks of the call center, with some leaving to take more lucrative and less stressful positions outside the city.
Part of the impetus for the reforms, according to Gauthier, was the mass shooting that occurred on 56th Street in West Philadelphia on July 2nd, 2023. The 911 dispatcher sent the police officers to South 56th instead of North 56th, which allowed the shooter to return two days later and commit the mass shooting.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel praised the dispatchers, calling them the “epicenter of activity.”
“We have a lot of work to do to make sure these men and women in this room feel just as valued as the officers we have on the street, because everything they do is substantial” Bethel said. “I want to express my appreciation to the entire dispatch team.”
Previously, only police officers could hold supervisory positions in the call center, but now civilian dispatchers will be eligible for advancement.
To better ascertain the address of a situation requiring police attention, the dispatch greeting has been updated as follows:
“Police Radio Dispatcher #, what is the location of your emergency? Does this address have a directional indicator?”
There are also added layers of quality assurance, including street supervisors contacting the operations desk for emergency callbacks and call relays that identify and correct incorrect addresses.
PHA Purchases Brith Sholom
The Philadelphia Housing Authority will purchase Brith Sholom House, an apartment complex for seniors in Bala Cynwyd, for $24 million. The purchase was voted on by members of the PHA Board of Directors on Thursday, August 22nd.
The complex had fallen into disrepair, as owner Brith Sholom Winit and realty holding company Apex Equity Group had essentially abandoned the property and its residents. Significant building violations had accumulated for years at the facility.
According to PHA President and CEO Kelvin Jeremiah, the $24 million pricetag will add 360 units to PHA’s portfolio at a cost of $67,000 per unit, which is less than PHA would pay to build new units. The facility is not fully occupied, so those on the PHA waitlist would be eligible to live in the facility once remediation efforts have been complete.
Plans for improvements to the facility are still in the works and will be developed once the sale is final, but Jeremiah viewed this as a formality.
“This deal is not done,” Jeremiah said. “It is subject to court approval, and it’s subject to closing at a later date, all of which we fully expect to happen within the next week or so.”
Asked for comment by Hall Monitor, Councilmember Rue Landau, Vice Chair of the Housing Committee, issued the following statement:
“After years of unsafe and unhealthy living conditions for residents, this is a bright light for the future of Brith Sholom house and the result of a hard-won fight by the tenants and their supporters. By acquiring the property, the Philadelphia Housing Authority will be able to ensure that this property is preserved to be permanently affordable housing for the remaining residents and that this solution could be a model for other projects around the city facing a similar fate. I’m hopeful that PHA will be able to make the necessary repairs to ensure that the residents can have a stable place to live for years to come. Housing is a human right, and quality, affordable, and accessible housing should be a given for all Philadelphians.”
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