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When we are in crisis, we expect to be able to pick up the phone, call 911, and get help. However, too many in our region have experienced the gut-wrenching moment when that help doesn’t answer or takes too long to arrive. Some, mistrustful of our policing system, choose not to call 911 to begin with.
Despite its shortcomings, 911 is the system that we are taught to rely upon. Of the more-than 61 million interactions Americans had with police in 2018, more than half (about 57%) were the result of resident-initiated requests for police services. The emergency call number is the front door into our criminal justice system. But it is a neglected portal whose dysfunction is symptomatic of shortcomings found throughout our public safety system…
