Albany Police Officer Tangela Henry responds to an average of 16 to 20 calls a day
Albany police receive thousands of 911 calls a month
ALBANY, GA -- Albany Police Officer Tangela Henry responds to an average of 16 to 20 calls a day. “They call the police for everything whether it’s an issue we deal with or not, and we just try to give them the best advice we can,” says Henry.
Albany 911 Supervisor Charlotte Floyd says last month, 911 received over 16,000 calls and more than 13,000 of those went to APD. “As soon as she’s given one call, she responds. And when she’s done there, she’s given another one, and that process goes on all day,” says Floyd.
And with so many calls, police sometimes have a hard time making room for other tasks. “We have a lot of people that want us to patrol the areas all the time but it’s hard when you get calls back to back to back. You try to find somewhere quiet after you leave your beat to do paperwork but sometimes that's hard,” says Henry.
And while many people think Albany cops aren’t doing much to fight crime, Henry says all it takes is a quick ride with them to find out that’s just not true. ”They're on the outside looking in so they don't see what a person riding in the car with us would. So it just takes more people getting involved and doing ride-a-longs to see what we go through,” says Henry.
And while you may see officers out on the streets patrolling or responding to calls, it all starts at Albany 911. “We are it. We get the call so we have to handle what’s going on with the caller, take care of the caller and dispatch that call,” says Floyd.
Floyd says she’s seen the number of calls increase over the years and says part of that is due to technology. “I might have just gotten one or two calls about an accident, but now that everyone has cell phones I might get up to forty calls,” says Floyd.
And while there is a high number of calls going into 911, dispatchers and police still encourage residents to call in with their emergencies.
Have you made a call to 911? How long was the response time?