If you call 911 in Oakland today, chances are you will be on hold for about a minute before being able to describe your emergency to a live dispatcher.
California data analyzed by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit reveals Oakland’s average 911 answering time is the second worst in the entire state at 54 seconds as of June 2023. CHP Golden Gate Division (Vallejo) had the longest answering time of 56 seconds.
CHP Golden Gate Division is a 911 hub and assists with emergency calls from parts of all nine Bay Area counties. California also has one of the highest 911 call volumes in the nation. The data shows CHP Golden Gate Divisions 911 answering times fell within state standards for years but jumped during the pandemic – partially as a result of staffing shortages and other variables, the agency said.
But Oakland’s 911 calling crisis has remained one of the worst in the state for years, including before the pandemic; and it’s worsened. In 2018, the city’s average answering time was 45.92 seconds. That was already more than triple California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services’ mandated standards of 15 seconds.
A recently-released Alameda County Grand Jury report made the following conclusion about Oakland's 911 system: "The situation appears to be getting more dire, as key people leave, the remaining team members are unable to implement the work, patrol officers are resisting, and the 20-year-old system is waiting to fail catastrophically."
Stabbed OPD officer’s 911 calls failed to connect
In 2019, Oakland Police Officer Danny Chor was off duty when he saw a woman vandalizing cars. When he confronted the woman, 41-year-old Margaret Elizabeth-Mary Goodliffe stabbed him in the neck and was later convicted of attempted murder of a peace officer. Chor was bleeding profusely while pointing his gun at Goodliffe. They were two blocks away from police headquarters.
But when Chor tried calling 911 with his cell phone, his calls repeatedly failed to connect.
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The officer flagged down a garbage truck operator in the area who also tried calling 911, but his calls failed to connect as well. He had to call his supervisor whose calls finally went through.
This dangerous delay in saving a police officer’s life is detailed in a 2019-2020 Alameda County Grand Jury report prompted by a complaint about the city’s 911 system. Ready Oakland's response here.
Despite what happened to Chor and the civil grand jury’s report, Oakland’s 911 answering time has only gotten worse. Far worse, according to state data obtained and analyzed by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit.
Avg. 911 Answering Times in California (in 2023 through June)
- CHP Golden Gate Division (Vallejo), 56.8 seconds
- Oakland Police Department, 54.09 seconds
- LAPD Metro, 27.2 seconds
- Fresno PD, 21.86 seconds
- CHP Los Angeles, 15.69 seconds
Source: CalOES
Oakland’s 911 phone system was recently replaced, according to a new Alameda County Grand Jury report released June 23. However, when it comes to the city's other 911 technology, Oakland “has not yet implemented the dispatch and record keeping software that was noted as almost ready in the 2019-2020 report.” In fact, according the report, both its software and hardware is “so out of date, it is no longer supportable. The Oakland Police Department is forced to buy replacement parts on eBay because Motorola doesn’t supply them anymore. Motorola only has one technician who still knows how to work on the 20-year-old software.”
In addition to out of date 911 technology, Oakland’s Emergency Communication Center (ECC) still faces major staff shortages and a record number of 911 calls. According to 2022-2023 grand jurors, “there simply aren't enough bodies employed at the ECC to answer phone calls in a timely manner.”
...the 20-year-old system is waiting to fail catastrophically.
2022-2023 Alameda County Grand Jury Final Report
When asked about the recent grand jury report, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao declined an interview and her team sent a statement saying, in part, “Long wait times for 911 callers are clearly unacceptable, and the administration will be tackling this inherited issue with urgency…Mayor Sheng Thao has directed that 911 call-taker vacancies be given top-tier priority in the City’s hiring blitz efforts that are already underway.”
“I was on hold for 10 minutes”
Alan Liang owns an Oakland auto shop and uses a nearby tow yard. Last September, he found a crushed body in the tow yard. A person was trying to steal a catalytic converter when the cars crushed him.
“I did call 911, and the experience was absolutely horrible,” Liang said. “I was placed on hold for maybe about 10 to 15 minutes.”
And that’s after Liang said his 911 calls repeatedly failed to connect.
“In all, it probably took 15 to 20 minutes to talk to a dispatcher,” he said.
According to National Emergency Number Association President Charles Cullen, if you call 911 and hear a fast, busy signal that means all the 911 “trunk lines” at your local emergency communication center are occupied. Each PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) has a set number of trunks that come into the center depending on size and call volume. Your call won’t go through unless one of those lines opens up.
“I feel like the city leaders are not taking this issue seriously,” Liang said. “It’s basically a waste of time. I just don’t dial 911 anymore.”
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao recently froze a fulltime dispatcher position
When NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit requested an interview with Thao, a city spokesperson said the mayor declined the request “as we are following the official protocol to respond directly to the grand jury’s report.”
When the Investigative Unit asked to speak with Mayor Thao about broader Oakland 911 issues like the state answering times data obtained by our team and the mayor’s recently-approved budget that froze a dispatcher position, she refused an interview.
In a statement, a city spokesperson said “The City Administrator’s Office has already activated the many departments that play a role in the services, functions, and issues identified in the Alameda County Grand Jury report, and those departments are contributing to a comprehensive review and analysis of the issues identified to help inform the City’s response, and identify and evaluate improvements we can make… The City is also continuing to work on implementation of the CAD and Records Management System. The City will report progress back out to the community and the media as part of its response to the Grand Jury.”
“911 system’s multiple failures…almost cost the stricken officer his life.”
An ambulance never made it to Chor when he was stabbed. According to civil grand jurors at the time, “after repeated calls failed to connect, [Officer Chor] called another police officer working in a county building a mile away…By the time other officers arrived at the scene, they feared the injured officer might not survivor if they waited for an ambulance. They placed [Officer Chor] in the back of a patrol car and sped off to ta trauma center.”
“The 9-1-1 system’s multiple failures in this situation almost cost the stricken officer his life.”
If you have an experience with 911 in Oakland or elsewhere in the Bay Area that you’d like NBC Bay Area to look into, e-mail Investigative Reporter Candice Nguyen at candice.nguyen@nbcuni.com.
