911 Response Times in Calabasas Consistent Despite Budget Cuts

Los Angeles County sheriffs are taking a full minute longer compared with their 2009 average to get to the scenes of 911 emergencies ever since the department had its budget slashed $128 million six months ago, according to an article published in the Los Angeles Times.

However, the captain of the Malibu/Lost Hills Station said its response times have remained unchanged despite the cuts.

"Our response times have remained pretty consistent since the beginning of the year when we started our overtime reduction in response to budget cuts," said Capt. Joseph H. Stephen Jr., who heads the station.

According to Stephen, response times to priority calls have remained between seven and eight minutes; for emergency calls, they are between four and four and a half minutes.

In August, the average response time for the sheriff's department countywide was five and a half to six minutes, the LA Times reported.

Priority calls could be situations like a traffic collision with no injuries or a burglary where the suspect is no longer in the area, while emergencies are classified as situations that require immediate response by sheriff's deputies.

"We don't get an exorbitant number of 911 calls from Calabasas, but we do get a few," Stephen said. "They are mostly about drunk drivers, traffic collisions and medical emergencies."

In the Times article, Sheriff Lee Baca said the increase in response times is "not something to shrug off."

"We have to watch it and if our response to emergencies continues extending, we could come to a tipping point. I think we're still at the front end . . . but we're inching up to it," he said.

To stem the increase in response times, LA County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has proposed a budget measure that would provide the department an additional $2.6 million to be used specifically for patrols in the county's unincorporated areas, the article said.

Stephen said the response time for priority calls was eight minutes in February this year. It went down to seven minutes in March, April and May, but rose again in June and July to eight minutes.

"There's no real reason for the changes," said Stephen. "They are just month to month fluctuations. If the time went up three minutes, I would be concerned, but otherwise there is no real need to get alarmed about a one minute change from month to month."

However, if there is a major emergency like the recent wildfire in Calabasas, it could add to the sheriffs' response times, Stephen said.

"It takes a little longer to get to a routine or priority call if we have a major emergency going on because everyone is concentrating on it. It skews the numbers up. And when you don't have a large number of officers, the effect of an addition or subtraction does matter," said Stephen, whose department employs about 160 sworn officers.

Although emergency response times have not been affected, the department has had to make adjustments in other areas to make do with a shrinking budget.

Special assignment deputies have been taking on regular patrolling duties to eliminate the need for overtime pay, and this year the station will not be able to organize its annual open house—a much anticipated event with numerous displays and demonstrations including the sheriffs' mounted team and the canine unit.

For now though, Calabasas residents needn't worry.

"Our response times remain good and within normal ranges and the citizens of Calabasas and all the surrounding communities have nothing to worry about," said Stephen. "If they have an emergency in their area, the sheriff's department will be there."