Resident recounts delayed police response after reporting gun visible in car; urges council action on dispatch

“I am here today to formally ask all the council members to assist and help with the issues and problems associated with our dispatch system and ongoing criminal activity in our area,” Samantha Niemer told the Farmers Branch City Council during public comment on Sept. 16.

Niemer described an incident on Saturday morning, Sept. 13, when her husband saw a vehicle parked between driveways with a man slumped in the back seat and a handgun with an extended magazine in the front seat. She said her husband first called 911 at about 6:02 a.m.; after no response they called again at about 6:11 a.m. and were told a report already existed and to wait. Niemer said she called again at 6:17 a.m., then received a callback at about 6:19 a.m. from a Farmers Branch officer who she said told them to “calm down and stop calling dispatch” and hung up. She told the council officers did not arrive at the scene until about 6:43 a.m., when three officers arrested the man, recovered a handgun and, Niemer said, drugs were found in the vehicle.

Niemer said she has reported prior incidents on the block, including a May 2023 episode she described as involving felons in a “drug house,” and that residents have been given shifting explanations for delayed responses such as a lack of on‑duty officers or shift changes. “As our city leaders, you all have a responsibility to make and keep our city and the citizens in it safe,” Niemer said.

This was a public‑comment item; council did not take formal action on the record in response to the remarks during the meeting. The transcript shows the incident and times as stated by Niemer; no staff report or council directive was recorded at the meeting to change dispatch procedures or initiate a formal review.