DC Mayor Won't Revamp 911 Office as Director Resigns Amid Audit
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) doesn't plan to restructure the capital's 911 call center after Office of Unified Communications Director Karima Holmes' resignation, Bowser said Tuesday. The mayor praised Holmes for leaving OUC “so much better than what she found.” Others including D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC) Tiffani Nichole Johnson said the next director must overhaul the office, amid an audit and reports of 911 dispatchers sending responders to incorrect addresses and other problems.
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Holmes is leaving effective Jan. 25 for a private sector job in California, an OUC spokesperson told us Monday (see 2012210057). The District's auditor has been examining dispatching accuracy in the 911 center, which Holmes has overseen for about five years (see 2009250069). A final report is expected in mid-May. Communications Daily for much of 2020 has investigated D.C. 911 dispatching problems, finding that rescue personnel have been sent to wrong addresses, slowing response times. Members of Congress voiced concern (see 2010080043). OUC said it welcomes the audit while noting it handles millions of calls annually without error.
“I am not” planning any changes to OUC, Bowser said in response to one reporter’s question at a livestreamed news conference Tuesday. The mayor said she wasn’t ready to announce an interim replacement. “Director Holmes has given me enough time to make sure that I can have a thoughtful consideration of the interim, and we will post the director’s job on our website” Tuesday, she said.
Holmes told Bowser “a few weeks ago that she had an incredible opportunity for herself and her family and that she would be moving on from OUC,” the mayor said. Other citywide officials with public safety oversight didn’t comment Tuesday. Holmes didn't comment. Communications Daily has multiple outstanding Freedom of Information Act requests to OUC. Bowser’s office hasn’t granted our request to participate in news conferences.
Holmes' resignation “couldn’t have come soon enough,” emailed Johnson, representing ANC 4B05. After reported dispatching errors, Holmes seemed to feel “no responsibility to the citizens to admit fault, correct wrongs and work to regain the trust of the community,” the commissioner said. Bowser should do a national search for a replacement who will immediately retrain all OUC staff, comprehensively review policies and procedures, and work with auditors to prevent repeating errors, Johnson said.
“This departure should be a time to ensure public trust in our 911 system,” tweeted ANC 4C10 Commissioner Jonah Goodman.
The leadership change’s timing makes sense with the audit in progress, emailed Dave Statter, a former journalist who regularly tweets about OUC issues. “This allows Ms. Holmes to be long gone when the report comes out in May and Mayor Bowser to say we are well underway in fixing things with a new director.” Statter said the new leader will need “strong backing and commitment of the administration to finally fix the systemic problems that have long plagued DC 911.”
Holmes is a FirstNet board member. NTIA, which runs the FirstNet board appointment process, didn’t comment by our deadline on whether she will stay.
Editor's note: This is part of an ongoing series of articles about D.C. 911 dispatching issues. To read the most recent story, with links to the others, see here.