After receiving criticism over delays in 911 responses, D.C. promised more transparency from the agency that oversees the city’s emergency communications. But a recent rule change may be doing the opposite.
The Office of Unified Communications, which handles all 911 and nonemergency calls in the District and dispatches police, fire and EMS services, now requires the 911 caller’s phone number to be included when reporting a 911 error on its website.
“Please note that an investigation will only be conducted in response to concerns regarding specific incidents,” the website reads.
A red asterisk appears in the online form next to a box labeled “Phone Number Used to Call 911 or 311.”
That’s raising alarms for safety advocate Dave Statter, who has tracked and reported more than 40 incidents this year, which he has overheard listening to dispatch scanners. The reports included 26 wrong address errors.
“So 40-plus incidents this year will go ignored … even though there were clear address mistakes in 26 of them, where they sent DC fired EMS the wrong way,” Statter said.
In a response to WTOP, the Office of Unified Communications said the rules have “not changed regarding how issues overheard on 911 dispatches can be reported,” but did not explain why the feedback form now requires a phone number for an investigation into a 911 error to be launched.
When asked why a phone number is required, an OUC spokesperson said in an email that the agency takes “compliance with privacy laws and safeguarding personal information very seriously.”
“Investigations are conducted in response to concerns regarding specific incidents when feedback form users have completed all required fields,” the email read. “Once an investigation is complete, records and information may be disclosed to individuals directly involved in the incident.”
When asked whether the agency is unable to locate a 911 record without a phone number, the spokesperson said that is not accurate. They also said the agency complies with all requirements of the Secure D.C. Act.
But Statter said he believes the change contradicts that law, introduced by Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto. The Secure D.C. Act requires monthly reporting of 911 errors, which can be found on an online dashboard.
Pinto defended the requirement for a phone number during a June 6 council budget oversight hearing. She said it helps balance the need to investigate concerns with the workload on an agency that is understaffed.
“In order to make this dashboard that is updated every single day with an agency that is understaffed and working extremely long shifts, I’m trying to get the balance right of what I am asking them to report on every single day. And one way we can do that is to provide standardization that if they can look up the phone number,” Pinto said in June.
Statter responded, “It’s ridiculous that OUC claims they have to have the 911 caller’s number to find the incident.”
“When I report an incident, I give them the date, the time, the location, the units that responded. That’s all the information that’s needed,” he added.
In one case, Statter documented a cardiac arrest call delayed by more than 10 minutes due to a wrong address. He warned that the consequences of ignoring these reports could be deadly.
“People’s lives are on the line because OUC doesn’t respond effectively to a 911 call,” he said. “I don’t understand why … they wouldn’t want to investigate all of them.”
Statter said he will continue submitting reports using the general form, despite the new restrictions.
Pinto’s office told WTOP she values and prioritizes transparency within the agency and rigorous oversight.
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