Richmond Council members express frustrations after agencies don’t provide 911 call data they looked for

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond City Council members gave both the Department of Emergency Communication (DEC) and Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA) more time to give a presentation that compares their 911 call data.

On Tuesday, April 22, officials said both agencies did not present the requested information during a public safety committee meeting. 

Councilmember Sarah Abubaker did not mince words, expressing her frustration.

“I must express my frustration that now we'll be three months into the running on this, and it feels like a disrespect of our time,” Abubaker said. “No good conversation can be had when the data has not been analyzed and there is not a presentation side by side as was asked for, not last month, but also the month prior.”

Councilmember Reva Trammell echoed Abubaker's sentiments.

“Evidently you don't take this very seriously or you don't take this committee very seriously. That's the way I feel, and I’m not happy about it," Trammell said.

RAA CEO Chip Decker presented data showing how his organization meets industry accepted standards.

DEC Director Stephen Willoughby also provided council members with his own 911 call data, but did not know a joint presentation was needed.

In a statement to 8News, RAA said they will do everything they can to fulfill the committee's request.

8News asked the council members what exactly they're looking for since we previously obtained the data needed to do our comparison of 911 call answering times and processing.

Both organizations are expected to give a joint presentation on May 29.