Tucson Appoints New Director of 911 Call Center

Back in 2017, investigators from News 4 Tucson reported an important story regarding critical delays in the city of Tucson’s 911 call center. Callers to the city’s emergency services were discovering seconds were turning into minutes for ingoing calls to the center.

The following year, Tucson Police and Tucson Fire combined their dispatch centers. In 2020, the city had a third-party assess the combined public safety communications center. The report found multiple issues, including low employee morale, untrained and improperly trained employees, and a culture of extreme fear when it came to retaliation and job-related discipline, according to News 4 Tucson.

The study determined  the center’s former director Jamie O'Leary maintained a style of leadership that consisted of "dominance, anger (and) sarcasm," according to employee accounts. In addition to "inadequate training," the 911 center was also plagued by high employee turnover and chronic understaffing that impacted answer times. O’Leary resigned in early 2021 following the release of the report.

Following O’Leary’s resignation, Tucson officials recently appointed Sharon McDonough to the position of director of Tucson’s Public Safety Communications Department, the office that houses the city’s 911 call center. According to Tucson.com, McDonough has over 30 years of experience working for the City of Tucson, having first started her career in 1990 as an EMT for the Tucson Fire Department. She most recently served as the interim deputy director of the 911 center under Chad Kasmar, who was promoted to chief of police in late December.

“I am so happy to see that this amazing public servant with so many years of experience — so talented, so committed to this city of Tucson and so knowledgeable — is taking the lead in our public safety communications department,” Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said in a statement. “I’m really happy to have this opportunity to move forward with a person who has been serving the city of Tucson for so many years.”

Edited by Luke Bellos