Support for KQED podcast comes from Rinse. Rinse knows that greatness takes time, but so does laundry.

So Rinse will take your laundry and hand deliver it to your door, expertly cleaned. And you can take the time pursuing your passions.

Time once spent sorting and waiting, folding and queuing, now spent challenging and

innovating and pushing your way to greatness. So pick up the Irish flute or those calligraphy

pens or that daunting Beef Wellington recipe card and leave the laundry to us. Sign up today at

rinse.com. Rinse, It's time to be great.

Support for KQED podcasts comes from Star One Credit Union. Give your savings account the love it deserves.

When you keep your money with Star One, you keep more of your money. Star 1 Credit Union in your best interest.

From KQED.

Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. Here's the thing about 911. 911 for us in the

public has exactly one job to pick up the phone as quickly as possible. That's the deal. When you're

calling with a true

emergency, every second matters. The national standard that's often cited for 911 calls is that

90% of calls should be picked up within 15 seconds. The state of California made that a mandate that

relies on the state of the Office of Emergency Services to bring down the hammer on local jurisdictions

that fall out of compliance. But while that's the standard, many areas do not experience

such quick pickup times, including prominently around here, Oakland. Nearly a third of calls to

Oakland's 911 emergency dispatch in 2024 took more than a minute to answer.

And here to talk about a big type investigations report for reveal on why this is.

We're joined by Byrd Duncan. Welcome.

Thanks for having me.

So how did you get into wanting to report on 911 response times, aside from being a resident

...