Hialeah mayor rules out inquiry into unanswered 911 calls. What he and others are saying

Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo Jr. has dismissed a demand from Councilman Bryan Calvo for a formal investigation into the city’s 911 emergency line operation.

A spokesperson for Bovo’s office confirmed to el Nuevo Herald that unanswered 911 calls happen in the city, but emphasized that this an issue “that happens everywhere.”

“We know we have a 5% rate of abandoned calls, but we want to improve that percentage, we want to enhance our operations,” Ismare Monreal said.

Calvo urged the city to launch a formal investigation into “the alarming revelations brought to light by two recent Herald articles.”

El Nuevo Herald reported that Hialeah recorded 4,716 unanswered 911 calls so far this year through May 31, or 6.69% of all calls during that time.

Bovo issued a statement on Monday comparing the rate of unanswered 911 calls for Hialeah and Miami-Dade County. The mayor said that so far in 2023, Miami-Dade County abandoned 68,127 calls out of a total of 632,222 calls received, a rate of 9.73%. Hialeah, he said, abandoned 5,307 calls out of a total of 73,255 calls received, a rate of 6.76%

There are no figures for the national average percentage of calls to 911 that go unanswered. But according to the National Emergency Number Association, the gold standard is that 90% of all 911 calls should be answered within 15 seconds and 95% within 20 seconds.

In stories reported by el Nuevo Herald in recent weeks, Hialeah residents complained of waiting for several minutes for an operator to answer the phone.

Councilman Calvo argues that there is enough evidence pointing to a crisis in the 911 system:

▪ A report commissioned by Mayor Bovo to replace Police Chief Sergio Velázquez, conducted by the Colina Group in March 2022, warned that the 911 unit “is woefully understaffed ... grossly neglected and needs immediate attention.“ The report highlighted “high stress, understaffed, chaotic environment [that] has resulted in high overtime rates, high turnover rates.”

▪ Andrew Glassmer, a police radio dispatcher at Hialeah’s 911 Communications Department, told the City Council on March 28: “I’ve been here since six years and have seen a downhill trend since the day one that I got here and unfortunately we need your help, we are very very desperate, the future outlook for our division is poor if drastic, rapid changes are not made.”

▪ Miami-Dade County statistics obtained by el Nuevo Herald reveal that the city has failed to answer 33,219 calls since 2021.

▪ Calvo visited the 911 department and noted understaffing.

However, Mayor Bovo’s office, when asked about the investigation request, stated: “We do not know what kind of investigation Councilman Calvo is seeking. Since the mayor took office, a review has been conducted not only of the 911 department but of all departments. If he had asked, we would have provided him with the report.”

Former Hialeah mayor Raúl Martínez criticized Bovo’s response, stating that it “demonstrated the desperation of an incompetent politician who neglected to address the problems when he took office and is now responsible for all the issues in the city.” Martinez added, “He is the typical individual who attacks the messenger rather than addressing the problem.”

Bovo has blamed media coverage of Hialeah’s 911 line for “attempting to create a public safety crisis.”

Another unanswered call in Hialeah’s 911

Meanwhile, another incident of an unanswered call came to light on Monday, June 26.

Eriberto Hernández called 911 at 9:49 a.m. seeking first aid for a construction worker with chest pain and trouble breathing.

“I waited several minutes for them to answer, but it kept ringing, and no one answered. I had to use another number to get through, and even then, it took them a while to provide first aid. Thankfully, it wasn’t a heart attack but indigestion, but we didn’t know until the paramedics arrived,” he told el Nuevo Herald.

Paramedics arrived at 10:15 a.m.

On average, from the 1st January to May 31, 2023 Hialeah’s Emergency Department fails to answer 31 an average of 466.68 calls they receive each day, or 6.69%, according to city records.

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