|
Today, my Office published our Performance Audit of Police Emergency Response Times. The report presents findings regarding the Oakland Police Department's Emergency Communications Center, which handles 9-1-1 calls within the city of Oakland.
First, the audit found that the Police Department did not meet state timeliness standards for answering 9-1-1 calls in 10 of the past 11 years. Delays were caused by persistent staff vacancies and minimum staffing standards that haven’t been updated to reflect recent trends in emergency call volume.
The audit also identified disparities in Oaklanders’ access to timely emergency response. For example, a lack of bilingual staff within the Police Department led to its reliance on external interpreters to serve callers with limited English proficiency. Emergency calls that used interpreters were longer than the average 9-1-1 call by five minutes. The audit also found that the median response time for Priority 2 calls—including situations with the potential for violence or property damage, and incidents that have just occurred—was two hours longer in the city’s East Bureau than in its West Bureau.
Moreover, Oakland's police beat boundaries—which determine which officers respond to specific calls—have not been updated to reflect current call volume, and existing GPS technology in patrol cars has not been activated to enable the nearest available officers to respond to emergency calls.
For more details on the audit findings and our 10 recommendations to help improve the Police Department's response times and service delivery, my team and I invite you to read the report.
You can find it linked below!
| 
