During a news conference on Thursday, civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen said 911 calls are critical pieces of evidence that are not being entered into the criminal justice system fast enough so prosecutors and defense attorneys can analyze them. He also added that it has since led to a dramatic increase in the average length of stay in jail.
Emergency calls can be crucial to a court case. They are used to either clear a person’s name or find them guilty.
Due to the current backlog, Kallinen said inmates are staying in jail longer, which contributes to overcrowding, and that under those conditions, inmates are more likely to be seriously hurt or worse.
“This is not just an inconvenience, this is causing death, this is causing injury,” Kallinen said.
Kallinen claims the Harris County Sheriff’s Office has a backlog of 12,000 911 requests from the local criminal justice system HPD has 11,000.
“The slowness in getting this evidence to the system has contributed to what the sheriff said was 201-day average stay for a Harris County jail inmate, 60 days for other jails,” Kallinen said.
Kallinen and community activists are calling on Harris County Commissioners to get involved and they’re urging law enforcement agencies in Harris County with a backlog of 911 calls to turn them over as quickly as possible.
“What is the hold up to stop someone from being able to get that information by pinpointing when it happened?” said Cynthia Cole, a community activist.
KPRC 2 reached out to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for a response to Kallinen’s claims but has not heard back.