A Kansas City man says he is alarmed after making the claim he was put on hold for roughly 10 minutes while trying to reach a 911 dispatcher in Kansas City, Missouri, last weekend.
"When you call 911 you expect them to answer,” said Roland Tucker.
“They were harassing girls, ladies, walking by,” he said.
Tucker said he saw a group harassing women near Westport Road and Main Street on Friday night. When he called 911 for help, he claims he got an answering machine.
"You have reached the 911 number of Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department. Please do not hang up,” Tucker said while imitating the message he heard over his phone. “And it was just over and over and over."
KCPD confirmed to 41 Action News they took Tucker’s call Friday night. However, they could not comment further on average wait times for other callers, nor could they confirm Tucker’s wait time.
“There are always other factors behind why this could have happened,” said Sgt. Kari Thompson via email.
Thompson said they should have other details regarding Tucker’s call soon.
Many other people on social media have claimed to have the same experience while calling 911 in Kansas City.
One person said, “Happens anytime you call them in Kansas City … On hold for as long as 10 to 20 minutes.”
Tucker said if it’s a budget issue, he would be willing to pay an extra tax to get the call center more equipped to handle a higher volume of calls.
"Something really bad could've happened and nobody would've known about it … If it's staffing issues, something has to be done budget wise,” he said.
------
Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com
