HOUSTON – Two different issues have prevented access to 911 call recordings for many days in April and May, the city confirmed to Channel 2 Investigates.
From May 7 - May 13, a Mayor's Office spokeswoman says as many as 136,000 911 calls were recorded only as static. The exact number of affected calls is not known, spokeswoman Janice Evans said.
A different issue is preventing the city from accessing calls between April 19 - May 3, Evans said.
The city is working with the vendor, who Evans identified as Nice, to find a solution to the problem. She said the city believes it will be able to regain access to the second set of calls, but it is less confident it will be able to access to the static recordings.
“There was absolutely no interruption in 911 system and our ability to respond to 911 calls that were coming in,” Evans noted.
Local defense attorney Jimmy Ardoin says the missing calls could affect legal cases.
“I think it’s a huge deal, it’s evidence in cases,” Ardoin said. “Sometimes it can be the evidence in the case.”
Ardoin says sometimes 911 recordings are used in court when you cannot find or aren’t able to call a witness.
Without 911 call recordings, he says it’s possible a case against an accused criminal might be dismissed.
“The biggest ones where 911 calls come into play is domestic violence calls. When you have a victim who doesn’t want to come forward and possibly testify sometimes the only evidence the state has in that case is the 911 call from the actual victim,” he said.
If you have a tip about this story or another story idea for investigative reporter Jace Larson, email or text him at jlarson@kprc.com or 832-493-3951.