SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Calling 911 is a lesson we teach kids as the fastest way to get help in an emergency. In Spokane County, 911 calls go to Spokane Regional Emergency Communications where operators take both emergency and non-emergency Crime Check calls. If you’ve ever made one of these calls, you’re familiar with wait times.
According to SREC, this year in Spokane County, average 911 wait times were between 9 and 14 seconds. When calling Crime Check, wait times were between 13 and 25 seconds.
4 News Now received questions about why 911 wait times have taken longer than that in an emergency and why callers have been told to dial 911 again if the situation became more threatening.
Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley brought up the same concerns at a City Council meeting on July 23 during a presentation by SREC.
According to Mayor Haley, Spokane Valley residents have repeatedly expressed frustrations with SREC, saying they have been put on hold, disconnected, or asked to call back.
Mayor Haley said her question to SREC was prompted by an intruder found climbing in the ceiling of Spokane Valley City Hall on May 12, 2023.
Several 911 calls were made inside City Hall during the incident. The first record shows a call placed at 2:51 p.m.
At one point, a 911 caller expressed confusion.
“I was on hold for a while, so I tried with a different number.”
SREC looked into this incident at City Hall specifically; they said there were several issues. At City Hall, three calls were coming in and two were from the same person. Another person called and hung up after a few seconds. SREC also said none of those 911 callers at City Hall were put on hold.
Surveillance video obtained by 4 News Now showed the man with clothing wrapped around his head and chest enter city hall, walk into a hallway, and engage in a struggle with city employees as he ran out of the restroom and jumped a fence.
Nearly an hour after that 911 call from inside City Hall, Susan Usai, owner of Trovato Interiors on E Sprague Avenue, called 911 about the same man. Records show she spoke with the SREC communications officer at 3:46 p.m.
“He hovered outside my front door for a while. I called Crime Check, and nobody answered,” Usai told the SREC communications officer.
Even a year later, Usai said she would have trouble forgetting some of the man’s requests.
“He walked in seeming a little desperate,” Usai told 4 News Now.
Usai said she’s thankful for the police response in these situations. It’s not the first time she’s had to make calls to 911.
Spokane Valley City Manager John Hohman issued this statement in response to our request for an interview:
“Ensuring the safety and security of our staff and the public while continuing to provide exceptional service to our community remains a priority for the City of Spokane Valley. Since the incident last year, the City engaged a security consultant to audit our program and identify potential threats or concerns. Additional measures implemented include:1. Reducing the number of public entrances to City Hall2. Expanding security equipment3. Decreasing access points to staff-only areas of the buildingWe will continue to review and improve our protocols regularly to protect everyone visiting and working in our city facilities.”
According to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, the man seen in the surveillance video from Spokane Valley City Hall was eventually arrested.
SREC said 911 calls are always the priority, although it’s important to note that emergencies do come through on Crime Check as well.
SREC Communications Manager Kelly Conley issued the following statement:
The incident referred to by Mayor Haley occurred more than a year ago and was not a break-in; the building was open during business hours.Three calls were received initially about this incident, two from the same person. Another caller hung up after a few seconds. A communications officer attempted to call that number back twice with no response. The other caller used two separate lines, tying up two 911 communications officers. On the recording, the caller who called in twice did not respond to 911 questions on the second line.At no time were any of these callers placed on hold. It’s important to clarify that sometimes people use the word “hold” when they mean there is a wait for the call to be answered. We want to ensure the public feels confident in calling 911 and does not hang up.
SREC categorizes an in-progress event, like an armed robbery, breathing issues or drowning as an emergency. A suspicious person, vehicle prowler, or burglary (not in progress) would be a Crime Check or non-emergency call.
You should never hang up once you’ve made a call to 911. Once you hang up, SREC is required to call back to check on your safety, which ties up the lines even more, confusing callers in an emergency.
COPYRIGHT 2024 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
