How another city addressed issues with 911 response times similar to Austin's

A city audit into the Austin Police Department's 911 process prompted KXAN to explore what other cities have done to address high call volumes and low staffing numbers.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A city audit into the Austin Police Department's 911 process prompted KXAN to explore what other cities have done to address high call volumes and low staffing numbers.

The nine-page audit, requested by Austin City Council Members Alison Alter and Vanessa Fuentes, examined how APD call-takers operate during times of high demand.

The report also looked at strategies used in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Denver and Portland.

Bob Cozzie, the director for the Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications, said since 2018, Portland's 911 call center saw a 42% increase in calls. He said his department dealt with - similarly to Austin - a combination of increased demand and lower staffing, starting around the tail end of the pandemic.

"Burnout just like in a lot of other public safety or public health professions," he said.

Portland addressed this, in part, by launching "Case Service," a non-emergency line separate from the city's 311 line specifically focused on low-priority policing matters. It uses an automated phone tree system, Cozzie said, that either directs people to non-police city department that can help them, or to a 911 call-taker who can get back with them when the number of emergency calls die down.

"Our call-takers who are 911 call-takers will process non emergency calls when they get through the 911 structure," Cozzie said. "When all the 911 emergency calls get answers, that's when the non-emergency calls show up for our call-takers."

Cozzie said Portland describes non-emergency situations that should go through Case Service as scenarios that warrant police getting in touch with a caller eventually, but do not require an immediate dispatch.

He added that the automated line begins by telling people to call 911, however, if they do believe their situation is an emergency. The city just launched Case Service at the end of last year, but Cozzie said it has already resulted in fewer people calling 911 for non-emergencies, clearing the lines for higher priority calls.

The below figures outline the latest numbers KXAN has received regarding staffing levels at Austin 911.

• Call-takers: 21 vacancies out of 104 total positions (20% vacancy rate)
• Dispatchers: 5 vacancies out of 75 positions (7% vacancy rate)

The department provided those numbers to KXAN in December. Six months prior, call-takers were at a roughly 50% vacancy rate.

KXAN asked APD for current staffing levels and if the department is planning on making any adjustments following its review of the audit, and we are still waiting to hear back.