LA 911 dispatch facing criticism for slow response after content creator shares troubling experience
STUDIO CITY, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles' 911 dispatch is facing some criticism after a popular content creator shared his troubling experience trying to get a hold of an operator.
Evan Lovett, "L.A. in a Minute" creator, says it took nearly an hour to get ahold of 911 after he discovered his home had been burglarized.
"My main thought was 'What if my son was choking? What if my wife fell in the shower? What if this were critical emergencies where one minute is life or death?'," he told Eyewitness News.
It happened Friday while he was at his son's baseball game. Lovett says it took much more than a minute to get an operator on the phone.
"Ten minutes, 20 minutes, 44 minutes, 59 minutes, finally someone picks up. The representative was great, took the information, said we're going to send LAPD out. LAPD came within 6 minutes. Perfect. Great response time," he said.
But it was too late.
Lovett posted an image that shows how the thieves rummaged through his drawers, ultimately getting away with a safe in his closet containing family jewelry and valuable coins.
"I want to utilize my platform to say hey what is going on? How can we improve this? What DID happen?"
It appears to be a staffing shortage, recruitment and retention issue.
Councilwoman Nithya Raman says non-urgent 911 calls are unacceptably long right now as those calls, and the urgent ones, are being dispatched to the same operators.
In a statement, she said: "My office has been working closely with city leadership over the past few months to find appropriate solutions for this. While some new operators have been hired, progress has not nearly been fast enough. The city can and must do much more to ensure that Angelenos who need help get what they need."
Faster help that could've made all the difference for Lovett.
He believes the thieves used Wi-Fi jammers to shut off his security system, adding that other homes in his neighborhood have also been hit.
