MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee woman is demanding accountability after she says it took police an hour to respond to her 911 call following a home invasion.
Carrieanna Johnson says she woke up to the sound of windows shattering at her home near 27th and Silver Spring, followed by footsteps in her family room.
"The sound was getting louder, and I started shaking," Johnson said.
Johnson says she ran out of her front door and made her first 911 call at 1:07 a.m. on Friday May 22.
"Had I been deeply in my sleep, he could have came in, sexually assaulted me, killed me, and then robbed me. And he had enough time to do all that by the time the police arrived. That's just unacceptable," Johnson said.
Johnson says she expected officers to arrive within 5 minutes. As the minutes passed, her backyard motion sensor camera captured a blurry image of the suspect. She says he then ran past her in the front yard and said, "You have insurance."
Watch: Milwaukee woman waited an hour for police after home invasion, raising questions about response times
Concerned that others might still be inside, Johnson called 911 again at 1:30 a.m. to ask for a follow-up. While she waited, her sister arrived before officers did and snapped photos of the suspect riding away on a bike.
A third 911 call came at 1:45 a.m.
The Milwaukee Police Department says officers didn't arrive until 2:07 a.m. — exactly one hour after Johnson's initial call.
"Why was my call like pulling a ticket at the DMV and sit and wait until your number is called? That's how I felt," Johnson said.
MPD told TMJ4 that officers were on scene within 12 minutes of being dispatched. MPD directed TMJ4 to Milwaukee's Department of Emergency Communications — known as the DEC — to ask what caused the delay.
Milwaukee's DEC says MPD officers were dispatched after Johnson's first call, but it was categorized as a lower priority based on her report. Johnson disputes that characterization.
"When I called and said someone broke into my house, I'm a single female who lives by myself. That's priority," Johnson said.
The DEC says after Johnson's second call, the priority level was elevated and dispatchers radioed every officer in District 4 at 1:32 a.m. At the time, the DEC says District 4 had no officers available — they were out on other calls.
DEC Director Tony Bueno oversees Milwaukee's 911 dispatch operations. He says dispatchers followed protocol by notifying District 4 after each of Johnson's calls.
"The officers are having to juggle numerous priorities, crimes in progress, and active assaults that are currently happening. So they have to triage how they best deploy their resources, and that's a PD decision to make, and it's a tough one," Bueno said.
When asked whether MPD was to blame for arriving 37 minutes after Johnson's second call, Bueno pushed back.
"I don't think there's any blame to be had. I think that they are doing the best they can with the staffing and resources that they have. And again, the facts dictated that this was not one of the highest levels of priority," Bueno said.
Johnson says she understands the department is short-staffed, but says the experience has shaken her confidence in the system.
"My concern is that someone needs to be held accountable because I've lost faith in 911 dispatch. And I've lost faith in MPD," Johnson said.
She hopes her story leads to change so other home invasion victims don't face a similar wait.
"This is unacceptable. This is not right, this is not fair to me," Johnson said.
MPD declined TMJ4’s interview request, but responded to our inquiry via email with the following: “The call was generated/created by the Department of Emergency Communications (DEC) at 1:08 a.m. The call was dispatched to D4 officers at 1:55 a.m. Officers arrived on scene at approximately 2:07 a.m., within 12 minutes of being dispatched.”
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