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From a Friday news release:

The Greensboro Police Department is committed to excellence in service delivery and routinely monitors emergency call response times. The most recent information on average response times to top priority calls are shown below.

The department evaluates three distinct components of call response. The time from which a caller dials 911 until the time the call is entered by a telecommunicator is known as “process time”. The time from which a call is entered by Guilford Metro 911 but is waiting to be dispatched is known as “stack time”, and the time from which the call is received by the officer until the officer’s arrival time is known as “travel time.” It is important to measure each component separately since different factors influence the increase or decrease in time.

However, Police Chief Tim Bellamy stressed the importance of also evaluating the components together since, “citizens who are in crisis make no distinction between the call intake process and our officers’ arrival. They are measuring our level of effectiveness from the time they call 911 until the time help arrives.” Chief Bellamy noted that while average response times always fluctuate from year to year they have remained relatively consistent over the last several years.

Priority 1 Call Response Time Averages (includes Stack Time and Travel Time)
2001 8:33
2002 7:52
2003 10:01
2004 8:54
2005 8:49
2006 8:39
2007 12:05
2008 9:05

The year 2007 shows an anomalous response time of over 12 minutes for Priority 1 calls. According to the Information and Technology Public Safety Manager, Anita McCoy, those times are higher due to procedural changes when a new computer assisted dispatch system was installed and Greensboro and Guilford County dispatch systems were merged. “Some call types were changed from one priority code to the other and as a result the response times for that year are a mix between the old and new system,” McCoy said.

Chief Bellamy noted the department continues to seek ways for reducing response times to true emergencies. His plan for 2010 is to expand the use of existing GPS technology to pair emergency calls with the closest available vehicle.