WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Nearly a year after DC's 911 center was heavily scrutinized by the city council following complaints about technology failures, long wait times, and crews being dispatched to the wrong locations, the agency's director says her team has made significant improvements in answering calls quicker.

"Our average call pickup time is 4.4 seconds down from 15 plus seconds last year," Office of Unified Communications (OUC) Director Heather McGaffin told WUSA9.

However, with 22 vacancies, McGaffin says OUC has not reached her goal of being fully staffed. She says that when she started her job as director in 2023, there were about 50 open positions. McGaffin hopes to fill the current vacancies by January, but admits that finding candidates can be a challenge when you are working

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