911 operators answer hundreds of calls related to police officers’ moonlighting

29th April 2013

By Tom Gogola

Though the city of New Orleans is drastically changing the way it handle police officers’ moonlighting, one aspect is likely to stay the same: 911 operators will continue to take calls from officers checking in for their off-duty assignments, even as those operators struggle to answer enough emergency calls on time.

Three recent monthly reports show that up to 12 percent of all calls taken by emergency operators were from officers starting their privately paid-detail work, and reporting in as required by New Orleans Police Department policy. In December, that was 8,129 moonlighting calls out of 69,090 answered at the 911 center.

At the other end of the spectrum, about 10 percent of 911 callers abandon the effort before the operator answers — significantly higher than the two percent goal identified as a national standard. In December, 3,866 callers to 911 hung up before an operator answered.

The monthly reports also state the obvious: Abandoned calls are reduced when operators answer calls more quickly.

Why would off-duty cops be calling the 911 center? Police say it’s good policy to know where uniformed, at-the-ready officers are, even if they’re not on the city time clock.

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