HIALEAH, Fla. – Mayor Esteban Bovo denied that the city of Hialeah is having 911 dispatch problems and from his desk at City Hall on Thursday said, “The system works.”
Bovo, who has served as mayor since 2021, said he or his office has yet to receive a call or an e-mail from a resident in Hialeah whose 911 call went unanswered.
“There are no missed calls; there are calls that go into our system and are somehow or another lost due to somebody hanging up,” Bovo said.
Brian Calvo, a Hialeah councilman, demanded on June 26 that the city investigate the inefficiencies at the 911 call center. Calvo also cited a March 2022 report — that he said Bovo commissioned — when he alleged that over the past two years, the city’s 911 call center had missed over 32,000 calls.
In May, 1,840 calls were “abandoned” and the average time those abandoned 911 callers were left waiting was 38 seconds, according to the city records. Bovo said the claims that dispatchers are so overwhelmed they are answering 911 calls in the restroom is “ridiculous.”
Eric Johnson, the president of the Hialeah Firefighters Association, and Andrew Glassmer, a 911 dispatcher in Hialeah, have reported deficiencies to the city’s council.
“Unfortunately, we need your help! We are very, very desperate,” Glassmer said on the record during a public council meeting.
Despite these complaints and related national trends, the back and forth has continued for months. Bovo said the claims that the city’s call center isn’t working are the result of “disparaging” rumors.
“There has been a narrative that has been created,” Bovo said.
The mayor also said that while the state’s gold standard is that dispatchers answer 90% of the 911 calls received within 10 seconds, his data shows that Hialeah’s dispatchers are complying by 83%.
Bovo said the city is hiring eight dispatchers, but the starting salary is about $40,000, which can double over time. Bovo also criticized Calvo and said he had yet to talk to him about his concerns.
“He hasn’t even offered a solution,” Bovo said.
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