Why this matters
Most current county supervisors had nothing to say about the issue. Candidates for supervisor said they will work on it.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s office has a 911 emergency.
The law enforcement agency has failed to answer 911 calls fast enough for four years straight. In 2025, 1 in 4 callers had to wait more than 15 seconds — and 1 in 5 waited more than 20 seconds — before a dispatcher picked up.
inewsource published these troubling findings last month.
Ever since, we’ve been trying to find out what people are doing to fix what’s broken – or if they want to.
The state agency tasked with regulating emergency centers has not sent any formal notices to or reprimanded the sheriff’s office. Elected San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez declined an interview request with inewsource, and three of the five elected San Diego County Board of Supervisors, who make decisions on the sheriff’s budget, would not answer our questions.
Supervisor Jim Desmond told us that filling the 911 dispatchers would be a priority of his, but he is termed out this year and his replacement will be seated in January with a role in next year’s budget. Two weeks ago, we asked his potential successors for comment on our investigation.
Both candidates — Republican Rebecca Jones and Democrat Kyle Krahel — said they would work to fix the issue.
Jones underscored the urgency of having a 911 system answering calls without delay.
“When someone dials 911, we know every single second can be the difference between life and death,” she said. “As Supervisor, I will work with the Sheriff and the Board to ensure we have the dispatchers and tools they need to meet the highest standards. These are the types of basic public safety issues North County residents believe the Board should be prioritizing instead of directing limited resources to pet projects and federal issues.”
Krahel said he’d work to make sure there was adequate staffing.
“We need government that responds quickly, especially when it comes to public safety,” he said. I am committed to modernizing county services and fighting to make sure we have adequate staffing. I look forward to working with my fellow Supervisors to reach these goals.”
The 911 call standards — that centers are supposed to answer 90% within 15 seconds and 95% within 20 seconds — are tracked through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) – and supposedly mandatory.
But the state agency has not issued any warnings or citations to San Diego County as its failures to meet the accepted standards have stretched into four consecutive years.
Lack of progress
The sheriff’s office blames the delays largely on staffing shortages and the growing complexity of calls, and officers say they are committed to fixing it. But they also acknowledge that additional staffing, a training overhaul and a new program to use artificial intelligence for nonemergency calls may not show substantial results for two years.
In an interview, Capt. Nathan Rowley said that the sheriff’s office is “in constant conversation” with the state agency.
The sheriff’s office has funding for 110 emergency services dispatchers in the budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, down from 123 the year before.
Supervisors approved that budget in June.
Rowley said those cuts were a result of the sheriff’s decision to restructure the department. He said the cuts didn’t affect 911 call times because they eliminated vacant positions.
“If we had 10 spots open or we had 20 spots open, it doesn’t change anything,” he said. “I still only have the people that I have.”
He said his biggest need from the supervisors is support.
“I call our dispatchers the forgotten first responders,” Rowley said. “Before a cop or a firefighter ever shows up on scene, the call comes through our dispatchers first. It’s a very, very hard job to do.”
