In the midst of the storms that punished ºüÀêÊÓƵ Saturday afternoon and night, a woman sat in her car that had been crushed by a tree. She was dying.
Neighbors tried calling 911. They called for 30 minutes, they said, but could not get through. The 33-year-old woman, who had recently moved to a new apartment in The Grove district, died in her parked car behind the apartment building.
On Monday, police identified the victim as Katherine Coen of the 4100 block of Manchester.
“This is not a new problem. This has been going on for years. When you call 911, you almost never get through. You either get a busy signal or you get put on hold,†said Helen Petty, who owns the Chopshop hair salon on the other side of the alley.
Petty said her employees called her around 4:10 p.m. Saturday to say water was coming in and that they had lost power at the shop, which faces Manchester Avenue. The tree that took out the store’s power was also the one that hit the woman’s car, Petty said.
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By the time Petty arrived at 4:45 p.m., the fire department was working to get the woman out of the car. But neighbors told her they had tried frantically to reach the emergency number for a half-hour before that, to no avail.
One man who runs a neighboring restaurant told her that the victim was responsive when he and others began calling 911. That man was not available for comment Saturday or Sunday.
The city has had problems with its 911 system for years.
Police records obtained by the Post-Dispatch in 2021 revealed that the ºüÀêÊÓƵ police department’s 911 dispatchers were delayed in responding to nearly one-third of all emergency calls made in the city in 2020. Staffing shortages were blamed, and interviews with former and current employees showed they believed the department did not act on memos calling for the hiring and retention of workers to be prioritized.
Since then, the problems have only worsened.
In 2021, ºüÀêÊÓƵ Mayor Tishaura O. Jones pledged to reduce 911 delays in the city. But in 2022, 40% of callers were put on hold for at least 10 seconds, and some waited 10 minutes or more.
The minimum industry standard, as established by the National Emergency Number Association is for 90% of 911 calls to be answered within 10 seconds.
“The last time I checked, it was close to 50% of the 911 calls†were put on hold, said Alderwoman Cara Spencer. “It’s truly, truly terrifying.â€
“They’ve been kicking the can on this issue for far too long.â€
Officials in the mayor’s office and the Department of Public Safety did not answer requests for comment.
Spencer said the city should combine 911 systems for police, fire and emergency medical services, so that all three types of calls can go into the same system in the same central office. And the office needs to be fully staffed, she said.
“There are times when you have one or two dispatchers for entire half of the city, and that is truly inadequate,†she said.
“It is nothing short of terrifying when you call 911 and you get a recorded message saying ‘All operators are busy, please stay on the line. Someone will be with you shortly,’†she said. “I know it by heart.â€
Spencer said she has nothing but sympathy for the 911 dispatchers who work in a very stressful environment. They do the best they can, she said, but the work can be overwhelming.
Petty said, “I place the blame with our governor who just signed a line item veto to fund the 911 system in our area.â€
On Friday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson cut $23 million from the state budget that would have paid for new police and 911 facilities in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
“With this budget, our administration has done the right thing — the conservative thing — to make strategic investments and maintain responsible spending,†he said at the time.