Despite some improvement in the past couple of years, San Jose’s fire and police departments still aren’t answering emergency calls fast enough. And when they do pick up the phone quickly, it comes at a cost: lots of overtime.
That’s according to a recent audit from city auditor Sharon Erickson, who laid out a series of recommendations for improving emergency call answering times in a city grappling with both an increasing volume of reports and job vacancies that have proven tough to fill.
In a joint response, Police Chief Eddie Garcia and Fire Chief Robert Sapien said they either agreed or partially agreed with Erickson’s 19 recommendations and look “forward to improving both the current performance and future programs.”
When someone dials 911 in California, the state says that 95 percent of calls should be answered within 15 seconds.