CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8 I TEAM has uncovered yet another extreme delay in getting Cleveland Police to a call after a violent crime and it’s the latest in a growing number of these cases.

So, we investigated what happened and what it means to you.

Late last month, Cleveland 9-1-1 took a call from a corner store on Rocky River Drive near the airport “They pulled a gun and robbed me and they put me in the cooler,” the caller said. But, the victims waited so long for help, that they made a second call after nearly half an hour.

The second time, they wondered, where are the police? The caller said to dispatch “But, they’re not here, yet…you think they’re on their way?”

The I TEAM obtained notes kept in Cleveland Police dispatch which show that twice, dispatch told a police supervisor about the call with victims of a robbery still waiting for help. After waiting 26 minutes, the people at the store called 911 again.

We recently showed you that people who’d been robbed downtown called the police and waited an hour and twenty minutes.

And, over the summer, police admitted it took two hours to send officers after a witness had called about gunfire in the street. Sgt. Freddy Diaz told us that all of the cases we’ve highlighted are under review. A process to find out why officers didn’t get there more quickly.

Sgt. Diaz said, “The Division is committed to providing the best services to our community.”
We’ve revealed many times, that Cleveland Police are chronically short-staffed. But, looking into delays is not always simple.” He added, “Making sure we look at the call, the call volume, where officers were at the time. It’s a little bit time-consuming, but we make sure that we provide a fair and impartial investigation.”

Back at the store, a worker said a woman carried out the hold-up. Then, she took off through a back door.

This comes as we’ve also recently revealed, that 9-1-1 callers, overall, are waiting longer for Cleveland Police even in the most critical emergencies.

We’ll update this story with any developments in the case, or any findings from the internal reviews.