TUCSON, Ariz (KGUN) — Calling 911 in Tucson doesn't always mean police are rushing to an emergency.
The first step is simply getting the call through. This year, the average wait time for a 911 call to be answered is 24 seconds, according to city data. That is up from an average of 15 seconds in 2021.
Once a call is answered, how quickly police respond depends on the type of call.
Since 2020, the most common 911 event type in Tucson has been a “check request.” Tucson police say those calls typically involve officers or community service officers checking parks, businesses or apartment complexes. The second most common event type for 2025 is “strategic deployment,” which TPD says is similar and includes the VIVA program, Safe City Initiative Deployments, and crime reduction strategy deployments known as Problem-Oriented Precision Policing (POPP).
Life-threatening calls are prioritized first and are considered a Level 1 Emergency Response.
So far this year, through Nov. 30, TPD has received about 500,763 life-threatening emergency calls. About 13.96% of those calls were abandoned, meaning the call was disconnected while waiting in the queue.
Non-life-threatening calls show a similar pattern. About 96,618 non-emergency calls have been made this year, and roughly 13.7% of those were also abandoned, according to the data.
Staffing plays a role in how calls are handled. According to a recent TPD newsletter, the department has 820 sworn officers and 135 community service officers. That works out to about 1.6 sworn officers per 1,000 residents.
While Tucson falls slightly below the national average for officers per capita, experts caution that the ratio alone does not tell the full story. They say those numbers do not account for how officers spend their time or reflect local needs and priorities.
TPD continues efforts to recruit more officers. The department’s next recruitment event is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 4.
———
Athena Kehoe is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2024 after graduating from Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Athena by emailing athena.kehoe@kgun9.com or by connecting on X/Twitter.
