Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, in co-operation with the Virginia Information Technology Agency and local governments in the metropolitan Richmond region, has announced the nation’s first 911 operator recruitment campaign.

Since 1967, our nation has had a reliable 911 system, but emergency communication centers all across the country are strained due to a lack of qualified emergency communications personnel.  To combat this problem, the City of Richmond has joined the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico in launching a region wide operator recruitment campaign, funded by a $289,000 grant from the Virginia E911 Wireless Services Board, a division of the Virginia Information Technology Agency.

“When people call 911, they expect their call to be answered on a timely basis by a qualified emergency communications specialist”, Lieutenant Governor Bolling said.  “But what would happen if those calls were not answered?  We must make certain that this never happens, and we can do that by recruiting and retaining qualified emergency communications officers.”

The Richmond regional program, entitled “On The Way”, will feature public service announcements on television, radio and in newspapers, as well as recruitment programs targeted toward newer media outlets, such as U-Tube and Facebook.  The program will run for the next several months, and has a goal of recruiting 400 applicants to fill vacant 911 operator positions in metro Richmond.

For more information on this program, please click here.