911 dispatchers are in short supply. In Missouri, cities are grappling with how to provide …. (MO)

ST. LOUIS – For the last year, the 911 dispatcher center for the city of Bridgeton covered the needs of its 11,000 residents with less than half of the dispatchers it needed.

As of this month, that center no longer exists. Instead, officials in the suburb 18 miles outside of St. Louis have decided to outsource 911 dispatch to St. Louis County under a three-year agreement approved in April. Rather than operate a center at half capacity, Bridgeton will pay the county $155,000 a year for the call services.