HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - Hialeah city officials are investigating an alarming amount of missed 911 calls, and the mayor addressed the situation after a councilman called attention to the issue.
Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo said in a news conference held Thursday that the city’s call center is working efficiently and explained how these calls might be seen as “missed.”
“There are no missed calls; there are calls that go into our system and are somehow another loss due to somebody hanging up,” said the mayor. “Like I said, a misdial. If it does ring once or twice and somebody hangs up, it could be a nervous caller. And then they’re being called back.”
In a press conference held on June 26, Councilman Brian Calvo called for an investigation into the city’s 911 call center after multiple sources documented deterioration of service, including a March 2022 report he said was commissioned by the mayor.
“This report showed, and I quote, ‘That the city’s 911 system is woefully understaffed,’” said Calvo.
Calvo said the situation is a “call crisis” after he cited thousands of missed emergency calls since 2021.
“In the past two years, the city of Hialeah has missed over 32,000 calls to its 911 operators,” said Calvo. “Folks were calling 911, but the call was ringing, and no one answered.”
After these claims were made by the councilman, Bovo fired back and offered his own statistics. The mayor claimed the city’s call center operated more efficiently than the county’s.
He wrote in a statement, “… our 911 call center is fully functional and ready to answer any emergency calls … the fact that an elected official would lend their name to this shoddy journalism misleading their own constituents is a breach of trust and reckless.”
Back in March, Andrew Glassmer, a call center employee, took his concerns to the city council.
“We’re severely understaffed,” he said at the meeting.
The employee talked about the struggle to cover shifts.
“The future outlook for our division is poor if drastic, rapid changes are not made,” he said.
Bovo also mentioned he was aware of the staffing shortage and is actively hiring people to fill in those positions.
Citizen complaints were also reported by El Nuevo Herald. An off-duty firefighter dialed 911 after an auto accident.
“He called, and no one answered,” said Calvo, citing the aforementioned call.
Calvo also cited the case of a woman whose husband fell from their roof.
“No one answered when she called 911,” Calvo continued.
Calvo believes that sweeping the situation under the rug is irresponsible.
“This is clearly something that is going on in that department, and we need to get to the bottom of it, and we need to find solutions for it,” he said.
Regarding the staffing issues, Bovo said they have eight positions currently open, and they are looking to fill them.
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