KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A dire emergency as issues with emergency wait times in Kansas City keep growing. Mayor Quinton Lucas says the time to act has passed.
He’s demanding the Board of Police Commissioners address this problem this week. The board meets Tuesday morning at 9:30.
“I love KC but if they can’t respond to emergencies faster, why should I put my family on the line,” Jesse Meloy, who lost to his home in a fire after waiting minutes on hold with 911, said.
Raymore man charged in 2020 arson case that destroyed 100-year-old Missouri church FOX4 asked Mayor Lucas if this is difference between a safer Kansas City, he responded, “Yes, yes it absolutely is.”
Unfortunately, this isn’t a one-off issue; it’s getting more common.
On Monday, the mayor posted on X about a mother delivering her baby at home with a midwife who waited on hold with 911 for nearly 20 minutes.
Now, we see this issue through the eyes of a Kansas City family of four, with one on the way, without a home after their own long wait on hold for help as they watched their house go up in flames.
In video provided to FOX4 by Meloy, you can see and hear his neighbors scramble to the Meloy house to make sure they had all made it out.
What they didn’t know is that the Meloys were driving themselves to the fire department for help because they couldn’t get through with a call to 911.
“Oh my God what are we going to do, call 911, when they don’t pick up? What’s your other answer, what can you do?” Meloy said.
The Meloys called 911 at 9:35 p.m. last Tuesday, firefighters didn’t get to their home for nearly 15 minutes.
They were on hold for nearly six minutes, more than four times what the Mid-America Regional Council says the average wait time was in August, which is just over 50 seconds.
“Extremely frustrated, it makes me so frustrated. I’ve contemplated moving out of Kansas City. If they can’t fix these issues, why stay here?” Meloy asked.
What is their incentive to call [911] when no one is answering, FOX4 asked Lucas.
“I think what we’re going to see more and more of is that people don’t have an incentive – I think you’re seeing more situations – I think what you’re seeing is more and more people are not reporting crimes,” Lucas responded.
He says everything must be thrown at this problem, because without this part of the system working, everything else, in his words, “collapses.”
“These aren’t unique stories, these aren’t just one offs – this is actually something where we need to make a difference, we need to make some level of change,” Lucas said.
If you can help the Meloy family, a GoFundMe page has been set up here .
Additionally, FOX4 learned Monday that there are more than 80 vacant civilian positions open within KCPD – hiring there could help to alleviate this problem.
As the mayor says, “the money is there.”
Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android This certainly is not the first time we’ve discussed this issue. The BOPC meet Tuesday morning where action could be taken on this issue immediately.
We also know the mayor will be releasing a series of solutions regarding safety in Kansas City Tuesday, including at 6 p.m. at the Plaza Library, and this will certainly be one of the things they address.
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