Milwaukee police Chief Ed Flynn said more than 700 people applied to fill one of the vacant spots as an emergency communication operator.

Monday morning, he welcomed the 34 that made the cut.

Chief Flynn led the swearing in ceremony.

The 34 new emergency operators will act as the first line of communication for anyone calling 911 and help emergency responders get to the scene, after 12 weeks of training.

The city has seen a shortfall of employees and high turnover rates over the past few years.

But the Milwaukee fire and police commission have re-organized the telecommunications division to help fix that.

“It's good base pay, it's terrific city benefits. And it's a career that they can take pride in. So we are hoping we can keep that message going as we go forward so we don't find ourselves in a position that was quite so dire that we needed to hire so many people at once,” said Chief Flynn.  

The chief says having more operators should improve service and response times.

Those sworn in should be ready to officially enter the service by the summer.