WASHINGTON (7News) — After three years leading D.C.’s Office of Unified Communications (OUC), Heather McGaffin is preparing to take a new position in Alexandria, Virginia, leaving behind an agency with significantly faster emergency call-answering times but continuing questions about dispatch errors, transparency and public accountability.
McGaffin took over the agency in 2023 amid longstanding concerns about staffing shortages, delayed emergency calls and dispatch problems. In a one-on-one interview with 7News, McGaffin pointed to substantial progress during her leadership.
“The average call answer time when I got here in 2023 was 40 seconds,” McGaffin said. “We just finished the fiscal year 26, where the average call time or call answer time is four seconds.”…