Durham Reporter

A recent report by WRAL has highlighted an incident at Southpoint Mall in Durham, where a 911 call made by a witness to assist an injured elderly man went unanswered. This occurrence has drawn attention to potential staffing gaps at the Emergency Communications Center in Durham. Out of a total of 80 positions within the center, only 59 are currently filled.

As per WRAL's report, Melissa Price Kromm witnessed an elderly man fall at Southpoint Mall, which led her to make a 911 call for assistance. However, her call remained unanswered for approximately five minutes. After receiving no response from both 911 and the Durham non-emergency line, she was able to alert mall security who then contacted Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

According to WRAL's data analysis, the Durham Emergency Communications Center is grappling with a vacancy rate of about 26%. Although this is slightly improved from previous months, reports indicate ongoing delays in call response. Data from January to November reveals that the center consistently failed to meet its objective of answering 90% of calls within 10 seconds. The highest achievement was recorded in April with 87%, but it dropped to 82% in September. This suggests varying levels of responsiveness throughout the year. In November alone, the Durham Emergency Communications Center received nearly 25,000 calls.

Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams spoke on this issue as reported by WRAL: "We may have to activate more neighborhood watch programs, and the city may have to get involved with that. We have to look at potential work-from-home options."

In early December, CBS 17 reported that city and county officials in Durham are finalizing plans for a new emergency operations center. This will include a backup 911 and sheriff’s emergency call center and is intended to replace the current facility located at the county’s former youth home building on Broad Street. The project has been budgeted at $34 million and involves demolishing the existing center. Construction is expected to commence in 2025, with the aim for the new center to be operational by December 2026, as indicated by county leaders who spoke to CBS 17.

In a recent post by Mayor Williams, he stated: "Data showed us that 73% of reports to gunfire did not have a corresponding 911 call. It will be very helpful to see the full report in March."