A Florida tech agency says it may well assist pull Los Angeles’ overloaded 911 system again from the brink by letting synthetic intelligence deal with routine complaints.
Public security know-how firm Aurelian has developed an AI-powered name taker that solutions police non-emergency cellphone traces, takes studies and routes complaints.
The system handles every part from barking canine complaints and parking disputes to deserted automobiles, misplaced property studies and suspicious exercise calls.
The pitch comes as Los Angeles continues battling persistent dispatcher shortages and gradual emergency response instances.
A March report back to the Metropolis Council discovered LAPD answered simply 57.43% of 911 calls inside California’s 15-second normal in 2024, far beneath the state’s benchmark requiring 90% of emergency calls to be answered inside that timeframe.
Staffing stays a significant problem.
The California Put up beforehand reported LAPD employed 144 dispatcher trainees in 2024 however solely 56 in 2025 whereas shedding 75 operators throughout roughly the identical interval.
Metropolis officers have stated about 100 operators have to be on obligation throughout a 24-hour interval simply to satisfy minimal staffing necessities.
Based on Aurelian CEO Max Keenan, roughly 70% of calls getting into a typical emergency communications heart should not emergencies in any respect.
“They’re barking canines. Parking disputes. Noise complaints. Misplaced bicycles. Requests for metropolis companies. The identical folks reply each calls,” Keenan instructed The California Put up.
“The analogy I take advantage of now could be you principally practice your group as Navy SEALs and you utilize them as mall cops. It’s like the best misallocation of labor conceivable.”
That actuality led the corporate to construct Ava, software program designed particularly for the 10-digit non-emergency cellphone numbers operated by police departments and emergency communications facilities.
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Keenan stated the dimensions of the issue grew to become clear whereas visiting dispatch facilities across the nation.
One heart instructed him it dealt with about 200,000 emergency calls a yr.
“I did the mathematics and I used to be like, 200,000 calls a yr, for 100 folks, that doesn’t appear that dangerous,” Keenan stated. “And he or she stated to me, ‘Oh, we take 1,000,000 non-emergency calls.’”
Based on the corporate, Ava automates about 74% of non-emergency calls and provides dispatchers again roughly three hours of their workday.
Keenan confused that the know-how by no means solutions 911 calls.
“We solely take calls which might be dialed into the 10-digit non-emergency line,” he stated. “We’re not taking any calls that contact 911.”
Nonetheless, the system constantly screens requires emergencies and instantly transfers callers to dispatchers when mandatory.
In a single current case, a caller reported a lady mendacity on railroad tracks by way of a non-emergency line. The AI acknowledged the hazard and escalated the decision to a dispatcher.
“About 5% of the calls within the non-emergency line are emergencies,” Keenan stated. “With the ability to perceive what’s taking place within the scenario and escalate that decision to a 911 name taker is extremely vital.”
Companies utilizing the system sometimes automate between 60% and 80% of their non-emergency calls, in keeping with Keenan.
One division that beforehand fielded about 80,000 non-emergency calls yearly now has dispatchers personally reply solely 15,000 to twenty,000 calls, with Ava dealing with the remainder.
“It’s one of many hardest jobs on the earth,” Keenan stated of emergency dispatchers. “It’s not paid nicely sufficient for the issue, for the quantity of talent that it requires, and in some methods there’s some degree of trauma.”
He stated staffing shortages have plagued emergency communications facilities for many years.
“Staffing has been a large subject. It’s been a disaster for many years.”
Keenan says the reply is just not merely hiring extra folks.
“You may’t rent your means out of a retention subject and oftentimes you possibly can’t actually pay your means out of it both,” he stated. “You must be extra intentional about the way you make the standard of life higher.”
Keenan stated the corporate serves greater than 50 public security companies and processes lots of of hundreds of calls each month. And in contrast to many authorities know-how initiatives, he stated companies can deploy the system shortly.
“Oftentimes we’re going reside with a buyer in lower than 10 weeks from a contract signed to go reside,” Keenan stated. “Often day one, we’re automating 60% of their calls.”
