Local

Frustration builds over SPD response to 911 calls

SEATTLE — Felecia James works at a store in Seattle and says it’s becoming common for police not to show up.

“We’ve had to call 911 for violence issues, for theft issues, we oftentimes don’t get a response. If we do get a response, it’s a phone call hours later,” she said.

James said a phone call is all they got after a brawl inside the store.

“You kind of got to learn real quick how you’re supposed to respond to things, like if you should check on somebody to see if they’re OK, or are you going to end up on the other side of a knife,” James said.

Facing a staffing shortage, Seattle Police are triaging calls.

City officials acknowledged at a city council committee meeting Tuesday that officers are only reliably responding to what are called Priority 1 and Priority 2 calls, like major crimes and disturbances with weapons.

Need to report a theft or fresh graffiti?

“That call might not be responded to for a day or two,” said Senior Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell.

SPD has started coding calls no one responds to with the letter “Z.”

City councilmember Lisa Herbold said at least a sergeant is making the decision instead of a dispatcher.

“In my mind, that’s a better approach,” Herbold said.

Councilmember Sara Nelson said people now aren’t being told if the police will come.

“There is a customer service issue going on right now with no communication, and that’s why people are getting upset,” Nelson said.

City council members also expressed frustration at the slow pace of moving low-priority calls out of SPD.

The city has only 13 community service officers, and the system isn’t set up for them to be dispatched from the 911 center.

The mayor’s office said a risk analysis on who should respond to different calls is due next month, and a white paper on forming a new public safety department is expected at the end of the year.