Evan Lovett, creator of “L.A. in a Minute,” says the Los Angeles Police Department left him on hold for 59 minutes after his Studio City home was burglarized.
In an Instagram video, Lovett said he called 911 after coming home from his son’s baseball game to find a glass door smashed and valuables stolen, including mementos from his late father. He was placed on hold for nearly an hour before speaking to a dispatcher.
“Luckily, it’s just a home burglary,” he said in the post. “It wasn't somebody dying or choking, that was shot or something, but what happens if it was a real-time emergency?
Lovett told KNX News he had a conversation with Mayor Karen Bass after the video went viral.
“She didn’t try to make any excuses,” he said. “She did address the fact that the dispatch centers are, again, critically short-staffed and there’s high turnover. It's a difficult job.”
Lovett said Bass pointed to hiring restrictions as one of the main issues behind the dispatcher shortage.
“She says LAPD does a great job recruiting for other police forces, whether it's Culver City, Long Beach, because the hiring process is so onerous and it is so rigorous that some people that don't qualify for LAPD go ahead and get jobs at these other police forces,” he said.
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In a statement, Bass called the delayed response “unacceptable.” She said that over 100 dispatchers were hired last year and more are currently being hired.
Editor's note: Lovett also hosts a podcast with KNX News, "In a Minute with Evan Lovett."
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