Former Ceres Police Deputy Chief Mike Borges warned the Ceres City Council on Monday that the city had better do something quick to bolster the police dispatch center.

The city doesn’t have enough dispatchers and the relatively low pay is preventing the city from attracting replacements for those who have left.

Saying things are critical, Borges noted that sworn police officers are having to fill in.

“I know they’re a small portion of the department but they are a very vital portion that needs to be considered,” Borges told the council. “I understand your concerns about compensation, especially just one portion of an organization. I believe this is time when we need to start thinking outside the box and addressing it.”

During his 34-year career in the Ceres Police Department, Borges said past investigations into contracting out dispatchers “was not a viable possibility due to the staffing issues the other organization had” and due to the volume of call traffic in Ceres.

He said if the city contracts out the dispatch center, the city will still need to hire personnel to do the extra clerical duties that existing dispatchers now perform. Those duties include entering missing persons reports, emergency restraining orders and stolen vehicle reports.

“Either you’re going to have a police officer trying to learn that system or you’re going to have your dispatchers who already knew it.”

In past months dispatchers have been taking their complaints about low pay and working overtime due to staffing shortages.