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Resident tells Champaign council 911 response fell under five minutes; urges review of staffing and dispatch audio
Summary
During audience participation a resident recounted a shooting response with a 4 minute, 45 second police response and urged the council to review the 911 dispatch audio and staffing levels; council members responded with appreciation for first responders and telecommunicators.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A resident recounted a recent shooting response and criticized Champaign’s police staffing and 911 response time during public comment at the April 15 Champaign City Council meeting, and urged officials to review the dispatch audio and body-worn camera footage.
The resident said that on Nov. 10 a call to Metcad 911 came in at 4:10 a.m. reporting a shooting; according to the resident, the first officer arrived at the scene 4 minutes and 45 seconds after notification. The commenter described a young mother on the phone with dispatch while her husband bled and said the Metcad dispatcher guided the family through application of a tourniquet.
"You need to listen to the 911 dispatch tape," the resident said, arguing the response time was unacceptable and asking that the city avoid describing similar injuries as "non life threatening." The resident also asked the council to consider staffing levels and retention, noting that the Champaign Police Department's minimum staffing had declined compared with earlier decades.
Council reaction and staff notes
Council members and at least one council speaker responded to the comment during council remarks. Council member Panfetti thanked police, fire and telecommunicators for their service and said the departments are "doing beyond the best," while acknowledging the city might address issues raised in public comment. Other council members offered remarks of gratitude to first responders and to the telecommunicators who had been recognized earlier in the meeting.
What the meeting did not do: Council did not take any formal action, direct a study or schedule a specific follow-up at the April 15 meeting in response to the comment. The City Manager and department leaders were present and offered general appreciation for staff; no investigative directive was recorded on the meeting minutes during this agenda item.
Clarifying note on transcript identification: The public comment appears in two separate transcript entries with slightly different spellings of the commenter’s surname. The transcript first records the speaker as "Mark Midland" and later as "Mark Medlin." The article attributes the statements to the resident speaker as presented publicly; the council minutes or speaker sign-in sheet should be consulted for authoritative spelling.
