ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – The St. Louis County Police Department is honoring dispatchers throughout the week for the work they do in the community.

The police communications department says that last fall, they had around a dozen vacancies, but they’ve worked to fill those spots.

“I believe we’ve got one vacancy to get to our authorized staffing level, so we have made a lot of headway in getting ourselves fully staffed,” Capt. Jeremy Romo, commander of St. Louis Police communications.

Filling the position is just one part of the process, as the other is keeping them there, according to Romo.

“We’ve really tried to improve and change the environment of communications,” he said. “We’ve really tried to make this a place that people really want to come and work.”

Last year, county dispatchers answered more than 660,000 phone calls. Focusing on filling crucial roles in police communications is a top priority, according to the county.

St. Louis City has been actively focusing on filling positions, hiring more than 30 dispatchers last year, and they are looking to fill 12 more.