ENROLLED ORIGINAL
A RESOLUTION
25-378
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
December 5, 2023
To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Retired Police
Officer Redeployment Amendment Act of 1992 to allow retired Metropolitan Police
Department officers and retired firefighters from the Fire and Emergency Services
Department to be eligible for rehire at the discretion of the Director of the Office of
Unified Communication as temporary full-time or temporary part-time 911 call takers or
911 dispatchers without jeopardy to the retirement benefits of the employee.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Retired Firefighter and Police Officer Redeployment Emergency
Declaration Resolution of 2023”.
Sec. 2. (a) Under current law, retired District government employees who collect pension
benefits and are rehired by another District agency are subject to an annuity offset. This offset
deters retired government employees from pursuing employment at another District agency.
However, the law allows for some exceptions to this rule. There are currently pension offset
exemptions for retired Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) officers who are rehired as
fully sworn temporary full-time or temporary part-time police officers, rehired as temporary full-
time or temporary part-time employees at the Department of Forensic Sciences or hired by the
Superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools as security personnel. These
exemptions allow former District government employees to apply their specific skills in new
roles for which they are uniquely suited.
(b) The emergency legislation would allow firefighters retired from the Fire and
Emergency Medical Services Department (“FEMS”) and retired MPD officers to be rehired at
the discretion of the Director of the Office of Unified Communications (“OUC”) as temporary
full-time or temporary part-time 911 call takers or 911 dispatchers without decreasing their
retirement benefits. This exemption would give OUC access to a new pool of candidates who,
while not explicitly excluded from being rehired as 911 call takers and dispatchers, may be
uninterested in starting a new job without any additional compensation.
(c) Retired firefighters and police officers would be valuable additions to OUC’s 911
operations, as they are familiar with dispatch operations from the FEMS and MPD perspectives.
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 ENROLLED ORIGINAL
They would bring the expertise and knowledge that they acquired over decades on the front lines
of emergency response into the heart of OUC operations, including their knowledge of the
District’s geography, their medical expertise, and knowledge of the information that firefighters
and police officers need from dispatchers when responding to a scene.
(d) OUC must maintain a minimum number of 911 call takers and dispatchers to timely
and safely carry out core 911 response operations. However, OUC has struggled in recent years
to maintain minimum staffing levels. Recently, in October 2023, 30 out of 67 911 call-taker and
dispatcher shifts did not meet staffing targets. This was also the case for 26 out of 64 shifts in
September 2023, and for 26 out of 66 shifts in August 2023. Call wait times also continue to
exceed targets. In 4 days in November 2023, fewer than half of 911 calls were answered in 15
seconds or less.
(e) Since OUC’s 911 Performance Dashboard was launched, several residents submitted
feedback regarding 911 call wait times, which received the response, “OUC is working to hire
more 911 call takers to minimize the call wait times.” OUC has had chronically high vacancy
rates over the past few years and instituted obligatory overtime policies to maintain minimum
staffing levels. These staffing challenges complicate OUC’s efforts to deliver timely and high-
quality frontline emergency response services to District residents.
(f) The emergency legislation can help OUC reduce the number of understaffed 911 call
taker and dispatcher shifts, reduce call time waits, more frequently limit shifts for 911 call takers
and dispatchers to a maximum of 8 hours, and reduce OUC’s use of mandatory overtime to fill
staffing gaps for critical roles. It will likely increase interagency collaboration and
understanding, as retired firefighters, police officers, and OUC call takers and dispatchers work
together to address District residents’ urgent medical and safety needs.
(g) Emergency legislation is needed to allow OUC to hire retired firefighters and police
officers who apply for 911 call taker and 911 dispatcher positions as soon as openings are next
posted.
Sec. 3. The Council determines that the circumstances enumerated in section 2 constitute
emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Retired Firefighter and Police Officer
Redeployment Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 be adopted after a single reading.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
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