A home invasion victim in Dallas, Texas, called police and waited one hour and twenty-seven minutes for officers to arrive.
The victim–referred to as “Jamie”–said he was lying in bed when he heard footsteps, and the next thing he heard was the sound of a suspect telling him not to move, as that suspect pressed the barrel of a gun against the back of Jamie’s head.
According to WFAA, 65-year-old Jamie said, “[The suspect] kept saying, ‘Where is the safe?’ and I would say, ‘I don’t have the safe’ and he would press [the gun] into my head.”
He called police when the suspect left his bedroom, and police arrived one hour and twenty-seven minutes later.
Jamie’s call is what the Dallas Police Department labels a “Priority 2” call. Such calls are currently “being answered in about 22 minutes,” but Officer Nick Novello said, “In many instances, Priority 2 calls can be held for 30 minutes or up to three or four hours.” The response time for Jamie fell right between Dallas PD’s 22 minute norm and the four hours to which Novello alluded.
WFAA quoted identified officers who indicated “there are frequently dozens of serious calls holding with no one available to answer.”
Over 260 officers have left the Dallas PD since October 2016. They currently have approximately 3,160 officers, which is over “500 fewer…than the department had about five years ago.” Interim Dallas Police Chief David Pughes said, “I think we’re at the point now where we need to be concerned.”
Officer Novello observed, “I suspect we are going to have a very long, hot and dangerous summer for both police, firefighters — and especially for the citizens.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.