CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department communication division receives and dispatches 911 calls for all of Charlotte, the town of Huntersville, the town of Davidson, the airport and unincorporated areas of Mecklenburg County.
According to the division's website, more than 77,000 calls are answered each month.
Once the call goes through, the telecommunicator will ask if you need police, fire or medic. Calls for medic or fire are transferred to those agencies.
The concern some local residents have is getting through on the call.
Several viewers have reached out to WCNC Charlotte to look into the length of time it takes to speak to someone after calling 911.
Adrian Stout is one of them. He said he was enjoying an evening with friends when one of them had an emergency.
“We were having dinner at my friend’s house and he literally took his first bite of steak and he started choking on it,” Stout said.
He called 911 and was met with a recording.
“It was saying if you need a medic, police or it’s an emergency please do not hang up or you’ll be put to the back of the line," Stout explained. "I’m just on hold and on hold and it just feels like hours.”
Another friend called 911 on her phone to see if there was a connection issue with Stout's phone but got the same recording.
Stout put his phone down and performed the Heimlich maneuver on his friend who was eventually able to get the food out.
Meanwhile, his phone was still on hold. He eventually hung up and said he is disappointed to not have gotten a call back.
“I would have liked to just talk to a human," Stout said. "Just to find out like, where were you guys? What is the situation? Were there not enough employees?”
He said his friend did receive a call back about 20 minutes after she hung up the phone.
Angela Davenport, a Steele Creek resident, said she is also concerned about the wait time.
“My car cut off on me and after trying several times to get it going, I couldn’t get it going," Davenport said. "I needed police to at least try to help me direct traffic around my car."
She eventually called 911.
“I was actually diagonally across the street from a police station but it was the weekend and apparently no one was there," Davenport said. "So I called 911 to connect me to the police and expected someone would pick right up but it took about five minutes to connect with a live person."
She said the wait time was a big red flag for her.
“I was thinking the whole time that I’m glad I’m not having a heart attack because if it was a life or death situation, that time could have made a difference,” Davenport said.
Another viewer sent us a screenshot from his phone of him on hold for 21 minutes before hanging up.
“Thank God, it was not a life-threatening issue because I don’t think it would have ended well. The screenshot shows my hold time and my call was never picked up, just a continuous message saying please do not hang up, my call “will be answered in the order it was received. Do not hang up as it may delay help,” the viewer shared, continuing, "Again, thankfully it was not life-threatening and I hung up at this time so I imagine I could have been on hold for thirty minutes or longer. My concern as a citizen of Mecklenburg, this is not the first time I have encountered a long wait time with 911. There obviously is a shortage of call handlers, but this is concerning if there was a medical emergency or other serious concern needing fire and police."
Stout said he is disappointed in the system.
“We need to find out where the hole is in the system because when you are having an emergency like that, seconds matter,” he said
WCNC Charlotte reached out to CMPD with the viewer concerns and CMPD sent this statement in response:
“We’re not aware of any widespread issues with 9-1-1 response times. Our telecommunicators work diligently to answer every call as soon as they come in. The communications team is always looking to hire to make sure staffing doesn’t dip.”
Mecklenburg County Commissioner Mark Jerrell and Charlotte city leaders say they are alarmed by these concerns and plan to look into the matter.
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"In a case of an emergency, you expect someone on the other end of the call," Charlotte City Council Member Malcolm Graham said. "If someone is waiting 4 to 5 mins and even in that case of 21 mins that is problematic… any delay in getting help or communicating with an officer is problematic."
City Council Member at large Dimple Ajmera said public safety is a number one priority and our residents should not have to wait for 911 services.
WCNC Charlotte has requested data and records on 911 calls and wait times.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.