Emergency response time by the NYPD increases

THE CITY

NYPD response times to incidents remain snagged three months after protests against police spurred long delays — while other emergency responders are getting to the scene faster than before the coronavirus took hold.

That’s the conclusion of THE CITY’s comparison of medical, fire and police response times so far in 2020, a year defined by sudden and intense demands on those rushing to incidents.

Starting in late March and running through mid-May, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked a jump in ambulance calls. Then anti-racism protests that peaked in mid June put the Police Department to the test.

Data from the 911 call system shows that the delays have affected every type of NYPD call, including what police call “critical crime in progress” — encompassing armed violent incidents, robberies and burglaries.

Responses to those incidents — measured from the first call to the arrival of the first unit — took an average of 8 minutes and 5 seconds in the last four weeks of August 2020, compared with 6 minutes and 49 seconds during the same period a year earlier.

Calls of minor crimes typically took 21 minutes and 13 seconds in August of this year to get police to the scene, up from 20 minutes and 44 seconds in August 2019.

 

1000 new cops won't decrease response times

From LTV Squad:

There has been no mention of reopening the closed firehouses or hiring additional EMTs. When you combine these facts with a rapidly increasing population, the math frankly does not look good for anyone expecting a timely response to their 911 calls.

As you can see in the math above, 1000 new police officers would not result a significant amount of new patrols on a neighborhood level. 1000 new officers divided by 98 commands (77 neighborhood Precincts, 12 transit districts, 9 housing ‘service areas’) equals 10.2 new officers per station. 10 officers divided by 3 shifts yields 3 additional officers per shift (or, one patrol car and a foot post).

2 additional patrols per stationhouse sounds good, but we haven’t factored in the retirement rate yet. Unfortunately, this is currently an unknown number.

What is known about the attrition rate doesn’t look good: One article (from 2013) states 3000 officers are set to retire. This is backed by a story from 2012. Former city councilman Peter Vallone stated at the time that “I think people should be extremely worried…”.

Assuming the old published numbers are correct, we’re going into the red and 1000 new officers won’t make up the difference.

Children die in preventable Far Rockaway fire

From NY1:

Investigators say a child playing with a lighter sparked a deadly fire in Queens over the weekend that killed two small children.

Authorities say Jai'Launi and Aniya Tinglin, both 4 years old, suffered smoke inhalation as flames quickly spread late Saturday night inside their grandfathers' home on Bay 30th Street in Far Rockaway.

They were both pronounced dead at the hospital.

Officials say the lighter ignited their grandfather's mattress.

A third sibling, 4-year-old Laylani Tinglin, and the childrens' 63-year-old grandfather are recovering at the hospital, along with a 55-year-old woman who is a tenant.

Officials say there were no working smoke detectors inside the home.

The fire is also calling ambulance response times into question.

Within minutes of the first 911 call at 11:51 p.m., firefighters were on the scene. However, EMS was not assigned to respond until 12:05 a.m., and ultimately did not arrive until more than 20 minutes after the initial call.

From the Daily News:

Estelle Jackson, 80, the kids’ great grandmother, said the children had been visiting their grandfather at the home and were in the basement when the blaze began.

It's also been brought to my attention that the scene of a tragic New Year's fire that took the life of another child has been cited for illegal conversion of the basement and illegal electrical wiring.

It's so sad when kids die due to the transgressions of adults.

The waiting is the hardest part...

From Metro:
If you need the police, it may take them nine minutes to get to you, the longest the wait time has been since 2003.

That’s the new average response time in the Mayor’s Management Report, which was released Wednesday.

The average response time of 2012 was 9.1 minutes, according to the report.

Not only is that the longest the wait time has been since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2002, it's also an increase from the 8.4 minutes it took officers to get to people calling for help in 2011.

The wait time has steadily been increasing every year: In 2007, it took officers 6.9 minutes on average.

Some officials are concerned that the slower response times are a sign that the police force is overwhelmed.