City Council holds hearing on flaws in Philadelphia's 911 dispatch system

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia's police dispatch system was the subject of a Tuesday city council hearing during which residents and dispatchers voiced their concerns. 

The probe was called by 3rd District Councilmember Jamie Gauthier to explore "solutions to ongoing challenges facing 9-1-1 dispatch." 

Residents testified via Zoom about 911 calls endlessly ringing and long wait times for officers to respond to an emergency situation. 

"The most shocking thing to me was hearing a dispatcher say that this was too dangerous of a situation to send police to," Walter Weber said Tuesday. 

Latifa Baashit, a veteran police dispatcher, believes police officer are often preoccupied with addressing other ongoing crime in the city. 

"On a regular night we may have three police officers I can actually delegate jobs to," Baashit said. "We have more police on the street, but I can't give them jobs because they work robberies, shootings, vehicle thefts, stuff like that." 

The Philadelphia Police Department was also given an opportunity during the hear to reveal their findings of a flawed 911 dispatch last July in Kingsessing when alleged mass killer Kimbrady Carriker shot 5 people at random. The first deadly shooting occurred on South 56th Street, but officers were sent north.

Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said the dispatcher has since been retrained, admitting that mistakes happen when a dispatcher is under the pressure of multiple calls. Return calls to residents are now recorded, and dispatchers routinely asks callers for "directional indicators." 

"As we drive down crime – violent crime, quality of life crime, property crime – as we continue to drive down crime these calls into 911 will decrease," Stanford said. 

Dispatchers, who are paid around $54k yearly, argue they need a pay bump to keep the best dispatchers on the job and quickly send officers to the right locations.