Report: 911 Response Times Are Down

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies were slower to respond to 911 calls in August than they were in the same month last year, according to a report released Monday.

Since the department moved to cut its budget by $128 million six months ago, response times are down by one minute.

Last year, the average response time for 911 calls was 4.9 minutes. The month after budget cuts began, the average climbed to 5.5 minutes and last month rose to almost 6 minutes.

In a report to the county Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Lee Baca listed the lag as a possible effect of cuts to overtime. But in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said other factors, such as a surge in 911 calls, might be at play.