Dallas 911 Call Center Experiencing Call Delays Due To Staffing Shortage

Emergency calls are not being picked up as quickly in Dallas because there are not enough people to answer the phones.

That's because the Dallas 911 Call Center is short staffed, CBS 11 reported. Last month, the center only had 69 call takers as opposed to the 99 people it should have.

Everything from the coronavirus and low pay to the city not hiring fast enough are contributing to the shortage.

"Residents should be able to call 911 in an emergency without being left waiting. Pandemic or not, short-staffing simply cannot be allowed to happen," Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson told WFAA in September.

The center aims to answer 90% of incoming calls within 10 seconds, but that dropped to only 60% of calls being answered within 10 seconds in September.

"We know from medical science and social research in the past 30, 40 years that every second counts," Alex Del Carmen, criminal justice expert at Tarleton State University, told NBC DFW.

The call delay has led to one woman driving herself to the hospital after she was shot in the face and paramedics being dispatched to a crime scene 55 minutes after the first 911 call.

“I’m concerned about it because it seems this keeps coming up every few years. I think this is like the third time in the past eight years that this has come to a real crisis level," Johnson said about the delays and staffing shortage.

The Dallas City Council will present findings from a study into how the call center can improve on Monday, November 9.

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