APD criticized for slow response times to 911 calls amid staffing shortage

AUSTIN, Texas - Dennis Farris, president of Austin Police Retired Officers' Association, shared an email that former deputy chief Robert Gross sent to mayor Kirk Watson.

The email said, in part, on June 18, Gross attempted to contact 911 four or five times about a dead body.

"I've had to call 911 before on an issue and the police never showed up," Farris said. "I mean, hours and hours, and never showed up."

Farris said the city continues to see a staffing shortage across the board, which is alarming for Austin residents.

"When you have a shortage in 911 operators, and you call 911, there's nobody to answer the phone," Farris said. "So, it just rings and rings and rings. And that's what happened in this instance."

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In the letter sent to Watson, it says Gross first attempt to contact 911 at 8:50 p.m., he was on hold for a minute and 54 seconds.

On the fourth or fifth attempt, when dispatch finally answered, it was at 9:10 p.m. 

"Not being able to get police, fire, EMS to your house. If your house is on fire, and you call 911, and it takes them 17 minutes to answer the phone to get the fire department to your house, to put your house out. You can lose everything you own. That's that's danger," said Farris.

This is not the first time Austin residents have waited extended periods of time for dispatch to answer.

Council member Mackenzie Kelly says she brought this concern to other council members back in October 2022.

"One of the issues council identified at the nine on one call center was pay and pay for our call takers has slowly risen to a higher level," said Kelly.

Kelly says the City Council needs to have continued discussions on how they can improve the communications department at APD.