How to become a 911 dispatcher in Virginia

Pay at the Virginia Beach Department of Emergency Communications & Citizen Services (VB911)

Each city and county sets its own pay. This is the official scale of the Virginia Beach Department of Emergency Communications & Citizen Services (VB911), the largest city's agency.

VB911 Benefits & Pay (information as of July 1, 2025): starting salary for Public Safety Emergency Telecommunicator (PSET) I is $49,254.40 (same for call taker PSEC I). Career progression on completing each skill-set level: PSET II $51,708.80, PSET III $54,288.00, PSET IV $57,012.80. $5,000 PSET I hiring bonus paid in two $2,500 installments after training milestones. Annual raises set by City Council each budget.

Source:[eccs.virginiabeach.gov]

Pay for this work across Virginia

Federal survey figures for public safety telecommunicators in Virginia, counting every employer in the state, public and private, so they differ from any one agency's pay scale above.

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, state estimates (all employers)[bls.gov]

Requirements

• Minimum age: 18
• Education: High school diploma or GED
• Citizenship: U.S. citizen or lawful resident of the United States for the past 10 consecutive years
• Virginia sets training standards only, not hiring minimums; age, education, citizenship and disqualifiers here are Virginia Beach ECCS's posted requirements
• State: dispatchers whose duties include dispatching law enforcement, hired on or after July 1, 1988, must meet DCJS compulsory minimum training standards (communication, dispatcher judgment, legal, professionalism) at a certified criminal justice training academy plus on-the-job training performance outcomes, within 24 months of hire (6VAC20-60-20, -30, -40)
• No state in-service training requirement for certified dispatchers (DCJS training overview)
• Virginia Beach automatic disqualifiers include any felony conviction; any Class 1 or 2 misdemeanor (non-traffic) in the last 5 years; two or more DUI convictions; illegal drug offenses in the last 5 years; a confirmed positive pre-employment drug test (marijuana disqualifies even with a prescription); punitive military discharge; untruthfulness in the process

Source:[eccs.virginiabeach.gov]

Hiring process

1. Online application through WAVE (vbgovcareers.com)
2. Application review by the hiring manager
3. Panel interview (phone, video or in person)
4. Selection and reference checks
5. Formal job offer
6. Pre-employment screening and onboarding

Source:[virginia-beach-departments-docs.s3.amazonaws.com]

Required training

Length not published. DCJS: dispatcher trainees have 24 months to complete the compulsory minimum training standards and field training; no state exam is required. The regulation sets performance outcomes, not a minimum hour count. The director may extend the deadline for medical, injury, military or administrative-leave reasons.[law.lis.virginia.gov]

Pension and retirement

• Plan: Virginia Retirement System (VRS), Hybrid Retirement Plan
• Benefit formula: Defined benefit component: 1.0% x average final compensation (average of the 60 consecutive months of highest creditable compensation) x years of service credit, plus a defined contribution component
• When you can retire: Unreduced at normal Social Security retirement age with at least 5 years of service credit, or when age plus service equals 90 (Rule of 90); reduced benefit from age 60 with at least 5 years

Covers full-time, salaried political subdivision (city, county, town, authority, commission) employees ineligible for hazardous duty benefits with a VRS membership date on or after January 1, 2014. VB911 lists VRS among its benefits.

Source:[varetire.org]