DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — More than 92,000 times, DeKalb County residents calling 911 were left waiting at least 40 seconds for the county to pick up the phone, if the call was answered at all.
Channel 2’s Michael Doudna learned that this year, DeKalb County conducted an audit of 622,000 911 calls from September 2024 to May 2025.
The audit found that only 65% of the time were 911 calls answered within the industry standard of 15 seconds or less.
In 92,902 cases, the audit found that DeKalb County took more than 40 seconds to answer the call, or the call went unanswered.
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“I would say it’s unacceptable,” said Thomas McEntee, chief business officer at Ameri ProHealth.
McEntee said those numbers fall well below industry standards and create a domino effect, slowing down response teams.
“What’s at stake, aside from the obvious, is public confidence,” McEntee said.
The audit found issues with staffing, low retention rates, a high number of unnecessary 911 calls, and technology issues, all of which contributed to the problem.
“I wonder how many of those people were actually hurt even more because they did not get the resources that they needed, they didn’t get the medical help, they didn’t get the fire department,” Sherri Chance, a DeKalb County resident, said. “If you have an issue, you call 911. They’re supposed to help you.”
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However, two years ago, Chance faced a different reality when she received a notification on her Ring doorbell from her son after her house caught fire.
“He said, ‘The house is on fire.’ I told him to call 911. He said, ‘I did. They put me on hold,’” Chance recalled.
Chance and her two sons say they called 911 again and again. In all, she says that the family members spent more than 40 minutes on hold while her home burned.
“I rode from Roswell Road to Covington Highway on hold the entire time,” Chance said. “I do realize that they get a lot of non-emergency calls, but someone has to field through that.”
DeKalb County says they are making improvements. Recently, the county invested more than $9 million into its E911 system. The county says the investments now allow it to conduct real-time transcription and translation. The improvements also include improved GPS location services and AI enhancements to help with call volume.
DeKalb says those investments are making a difference and that 81 percent of calls are answered within 20 seconds.
Residents say they still want to see more done so residents facing an emergency are not forced to wait on hold.
“I mean, people’s lives are at stake. If they don’t get this right and fix it, people will lose their homes. People will lose their lives because of an inadequate system that nobody has really taken the time to try to fix,” Chance said.
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DeKalb County officials shared a full statement with Channel 2 Action News that read:
- The county has invested over $9 million in technology investments in E911 since October 2024.
- Since the implementation of a new phone system in November 2025, calls answered within 20 seconds increased from 71% to 81% (January 1, 2026 – April 30, 2026).
- New capabilities include:
- Real-time call transcription.
- Real-time language translation.
- Enhanced GPS-based location services.
- Identifying duplicate incident reports.
- Automatic transcription support for call notes.
- Virtual agents for routine inquiries, allowing operators to focus on emergencies.
- Planned AI enhancements include:
- Identifying duplicate incident reports.
- Automatic transcription support for call notes.
- Virtual agents for routine inquiries, allowing operators to focus on emergencies.
- DeKalb E911 has earned the prestigious Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) accreditation in all three major dispatch disciplines—Fire, Police, and Medical—achieving the distinguished Tri ACE designation from the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. This recognition highlights the department’s strong commitment to excellence, accuracy, and professionalism in emergency call handling.
- With this accomplishment, DeKalb E911 now ranks among the top 33 emergency communications centers worldwide to attain Tri ACE status—an impressive recognition, given that more than 3,600 centers worldwide use the Priority Dispatch protocol system.
- This recognition emphasizes the dedication, skill, and professionalism of DeKalb County’s emergency communications personnel and reaffirms the department’s commitment to providing world-class service to the community.