The Austin City Council approved a plan last week to move its 911 call-taking system from the Austin Police Department to a standalone office in an effort to improve response times.

The plan, laid out as part of the city’s $6.6 billion budget, comes after years of debate over how to improve emergency response times in Austin.

Supporters, including Council Member Krista Laine, say the new office will ensure that people who call 911 get the help that they need — and that it arrives more quickly. She voted along with five other council members to set aside more than $1 million for the office and hire four people to get it started.

But Austin’s police, fire, and emergency medical services chiefs all said they opposed the measure. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson also voted against it, arguing that response times have already improved as the city has addressed staffing shortages across its various public safety departments.

“911 response times at our call center have improved significantly since 2023,” Watson said in a written statement. “In fact, we now meet the national average. That’s thanks to the good work of our APD recruiting efforts, which cut long time vacancies and improved employee morale.”

A 2024 city audit found that about 77% of 911 calls in Austin were being answered within a 15-second window, compared to the standard of 90% recommended by the National Emergency Number Association. During peak times, like nights, weekends, and holidays, that number dropped to 50%. It’s now above 90% because of improved staffing, Austin Police Department Chief Lisa Davis said.

But Laine said more improvements are needed.

“I did this because the 911 response in my district — in far North and Northwest Austin — has been an ongoing problem,” she said.

Laine said response times aren’t the only issue. In her district, calls for help often get bounced between various law enforcement agencies, including Austin Police, the Round Rock ISD Police Department, and two different county sheriff’s offices.

As an example, she relayed the story of a constituent who called 911 following a car crash on FM 620, which sits on the edge of both Travis and Williamson counties. She said the caller was transferred several times between each county’s sheriff’s office. Council Member Paige Ellis said the edge of her Southwest Austin district, which shares a border with Hays County, faces similar issues.

Laine said a standalone office could provide an executive-level supervisor to work out such problems. That’s why she authored a resolution during last year’s budget process that directed city staff to explore the possibility.

The staff has taken much longer than expected. They were supposed to produce a report with their findings last year, but now say it will be ready next month. Watson and public safety officials say it’s premature to take any action before that report is ready, but Laine says Austinites can’t wait any longer.

“This was intended to refocus us on improving where people — our people in this city — have been left behind, where families have been traumatized and where response times have cost lives,” Laine said.

Recent police shooting death spurs more calls for change

When someone calls 911, a call taker asks if they need police, fire, emergency medical services or mental health services. From there, the call taker will connect them with the requested agency. A dispatcher then sends out a response team.

But Council Member Mike Siegel said the right agency doesn’t always respond, and creating a 911 call system independent of APD can ensure it does.

“There is a lot of concern that sometimes we send police officers to a mental health crisis,” Siegel said. “And unfortunately that can make the crisis worse and more dangerous for the individual who’s in crisis and for the officers themselves.”

The latest example of this is the death of 17-year-old Anthoneil Williams II, who was killed by Austin police at a park in Northeast Austin last month. Police said Williams allegedly called 911 to report someone brandishing a gun. Austin Police officers responded to the call and shot him as he was reaching for his waistband. He was unarmed.

Chief Davis characterized the shooting as a potential “suicide by police.” Activists have called on city leaders to coordinate better response for mental health emergencies.

“The big benefit of a standalone office or department is that you have a civilian leader who is in charge of best practices and making all the details of the work better,” Siegel said. “We know the chief of police has a lot of other priorities so we just give 911 the attention it deserves by having a civilian leader on top of that work.”

The pushback

But public safety officials and other city leaders disagree.

Assistant City Manager Ramón Batista, who oversees public safety, said improvements to the system are already underway, and creating a separate office could be problematic.

He cited a preliminary report from a consulting team that recommended against the move. The report states that “the availability and deployment of police officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, and other response resources” are responsible for issues with the system.

“Adding another bureaucracy into the system will add another layer of complexity in how the calls get processed from the initial intake to the distribution to police, fire and EMS,” Batista said.

Michael Bullock, president of the Austin Police Association, the police union, agreed.

“You don’t have everyone playing on the same sheet of music, so I think long-term this is likely to lead to more problems,” Bullock said.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax echoed those concerns in a memo last week.

“There are significant legal and administrative hurdles to overcome before this can be implemented,” Broadnax said in the memo. “And there is not yet a timeline identified for how long it will take to clear those hurdles and stand-up a new functioning 911 department.”

He added he would abide by the council’s wishes to move forward with setting up the office.

Broadnax can begin searching for the first civilian director for the office in October, when the new fiscal year starts. He and staff will report back to council periodically as the process moves forward.