Notice of complaint related to 2023-0110

OF
DEAT
CUSTOM
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
FOUNDED
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
February 10, 2023
ICMS #: 2023-0110
On February 6, 2023, the OPO received an email complaint.
The complainant alleges:
I had to make a 911 phone call due to an outage of a
traffic light at a busy intersection on
as I
was very concerned that there would be a deadly accident as people were not using it as a
four way stop. I initially called 311 as this was not a medical emergency, however I was
instructed by the 311 operator that I needed to call 911 even though this was not a police,
fire or medical emergency.
I was shocked to see that I had to wait on hold for over a minute for an operator to answer.
Luckily my call was a non emergent call, but it got me thinking about those that need to
make an emergent life saving call to 911 and have to wait for over a minute for an operator.
As someone who works in the ER and ICU of a hospital, and have had to perform
emergency medical assistance on a regular basis, I am saddened that someone would have
to wait that long for help.
Brain damage can occur only after 2-3 minutes without CPR and it pains me to think that
people may not be getting the appropriate help due to being on hold with a 911 operator
for an extended period. I find this very concerning. Maybe the city of Austin should invest
in hiring more 911 operators for the safety of the citizens of the city.
This notice of complaint is a request for Internal Affairs to initiate an investigation to
determine if the employee conduct is within compliance of APD policy, Civil Service
Rules, and Municipal Civil Service Rules.