Street Racing Incidents: Austin City Council Member Asks Questions About 911 Wait Times

Austin, Texas – The February 18 “Street Takeover” resulted in the city’s emergency call center receiving four times as many calls as usual. Due to the influx, callers waited a long time before talking to a dispatcher, including an Austin city council member.

It was the chaos that started it all at the intersection of Barton Springs Road and South Lamar Boulevard. Saturday evening.

Austin police say a car club blocked traffic at a popular intersection for almost 45 minutes, making donuts, setting off fireworks and pushing back police, creating a traffic jam.

“We could see fireworks. We could see people sitting in the backs of trucks. We saw people wearing ski masks,” council member Alison Alter said.

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Alter says she was on her way home from dinner with her family when she saw the whole incident unfold right in front of her eyes. Fortunately, she managed to get out of there and call 911.

“We called 911 and waited and waited and waited and waited 28 minutes before they answered,” she said.

Council member Alter says she heard an automatic hold message within 28 minutes. When the waiting game is over, Alter says she couldn’t help but think what if it was a life or death situation?

“What if we had a heart attack? What if there was some kind of emergency where people needed access to EMS and you couldn’t get through, you couldn’t get through?” Alter asked.

In a statement released by Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, he said 911 wait times were a major issue that night. He says the city’s 911 call center was full and received four times as many calls as usual that night.

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“This is a direct failure of city manager Kronk’s leadership and the police department, who have been aware of the problem since 911 for over 18 months,” Alter said.

Last week, the Austin City Council fired city manager Spencer Kronk after his leadership during a winter storm. Alter says he has also failed to find solutions to the 911 call center’s staffing problems and hopes new interim city manager Jesús Garza will fix that.

“I really think we now have an opportunity with a new city manager to think outside the box and implement decisions that should have been made a long time ago,” she said.

Alter says 911 wait times have nothing to do with contract negotiations with the city police. Those who work in a call center are mostly not jurors.