911 wait times in Kansas City are ‘longer than ever.’ Mayor Lucas thinks this could help

Kansas City Council is considering a potential new solution to the growing problem of Kansas City’s lengthy 911 hold times: running its own call center instead of sharing one with the rest of the metro.

The council unanimously voted Thursday to solicit proposals for such a center, which proponents say would cut some red tape and give Kansas City leaders a quicker way to implement changes to the 911 system.

The vote came as wait times for 911 calls to the Kansas City Police Department are “longer than ever,” according to the resolution sponsored by Mayor Quinton Lucas.

As it is now, Kansas City police answer all 911 calls in the city, but the Mid-America Regional Council, known as MARC, coordinates the system for the region. That means that changes to the system require a regional vote.

But Lucas said it is common for cities to run their own 911 call centers and suggested that local oversight that would be “accountable to Kansas Citians.”

The resolution directs the City Manager’s Office to seek proposals for the technology and equipment to create a city-run 911 call center and report back in a month.

In Kansas City, fewer than 46% of 911 calls are answered in 15 seconds — well below national standards, which call for 90% to be taken within that time. Every other agency in the regional system met the standard last month, with the police departments in Kansas City, Kansas, and Overland Park, for example, coming in at about 95% and 98%, respectively.

Melesa Johnson, the mayor’s director of public safety, said some residents have waited an “unacceptable” amount of time to have their 911 calls answered, including “up to and above” 15 minutes.

Kansas City’s average wait time is a minute and 40 seconds, according to the most recent data. That’s compared to five seconds for Lenexa police and six seconds for Independence police. Those departments are also part of MARC’s system.

Call takers in Kansas City have said they are doing more with less: In June, KCPD fielded 23,000 more calls compared to that month last year, while each shift of the communications unit was working below minimum staffing requirements, almost daily.

In June, the Board of Police Commissioners, which oversees KCPD, called for an emergency meeting at MARC to hash out new ways for 911 calls to be handled.

In an effort to decrease the amount of time callers wait and to improve officer response times, the police board wanted residents to be able to select, through an automated call attendant, if they are trying to reach police, the fire department, emergency medical services or non-emergency assistance.

After analyzing the possible change, regional leaders from MARC decided to ask Motorola, which makes the equipment used in the 911 system, to research and develop a way to set up an auto-attendant in Kansas City. The telecommunications company believes it can, but has said it could take until early next year to create the system.

To free up call takers for the time being, police have encouraged people to call 311 or KCPD’s non-emergency number, 816-234-5111, if their situation is not an emergency.