Councilmember wants to speed up 911 calls
Tim McOsker, who represents Harbor area, notes each second of delay harms public safety
The Los Angeles City Council could move to address delays in 911 emergency wait times after Councilmember Tim McOsker introduced a motion on Friday, and a separate motion he and a colleague submitted asks for a report on hiring and training practices for “unarmed crisis response-related” service calls.
McOsker, whose 15th District runs from Watts to San Pedro,
said there are growing concerns about waiting times for calls made to 911.
“From vetting to diverting to other dispatch systems,” a news release from his office said, “callers can experience a delay of 20 to 30 seconds in response time.”
“Twenty seconds doesn't sound like a lot of time, but when you're experiencing a crisis, every second counts,” McOsker said in a written comment. “In the middle of a life-or-death situation, being on hold is the last thing that should happen.”
Though there is a worker shortage throughout Los Angeles, McOsker said, hiring new 911 workers should have priority.
Currently, 911 calls are routed through the Los Angeles Police Department Dispatch System, which then vets the calls and, if needed, redirects them to the Los Angeles Fire Department Dispatch System. That results in a delay of 20-30 seconds, McOsker's news release said.
LAPD has implemented a guideline to answer 95% of radio calls for service within 15 seconds of the call coming in, the release
Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker, shown last month in San Pedro for the NAACP Square unveiling, has introduced motions to reduce delays for 911 calls.
added.
Last year, the department averaged 17 seconds. But with the staffing shortages, that has gone up to an average of 20 seconds, according to information provided by McOsker's office.
Dispatchers for 911 are civilian employees and there are currently 131 vacancies that have impacted response times, McOsker's office reported.
McOsker also co-introduced a motion on Friday with 1st District Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, representing core areas of northeast and northwest Los Angeles, that requests a report on the hiring, as well as training practices and protocols for unarmed crisis response-related service calls in the city. They requested that the report include procedural mapping and technology needed to implement a “decision tree” for those service calls.
“The creation of the Office of Unarmed Response and Safety,” Hernandez said in a written comment, “is a critical step for Los Angeles as we continue to roll out new, life-affirming alternatives to crisis response.”
The motion for the Office of Unarmed Response and Safety names eight agencies that could be involved in responding to those tupes of 911 calls.
Dispatch staff, as well as counselors with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifelines call center, must be trained to identify callers' needs and refer them to the most appropriate service. Calls coming in to the 988 service are routed to the nearest crisis center using the caller's area code.
Both motions direct LAPD and the Personnel Department to report back to council on staffing numbers and the details of the hiring process. The McOsker motion will first go to the Public Safety Committee while the HernandezMcOsker motion will be referred to the Personnel, Audits, and Hiring Committee, as well as the Public Safety Committee.