Sheriff investigates missed 911 call; recent updates made to 911 system in Perry County
PERRY COUNTY, Mo., (KBSI)- Perry County Sheriff, Jason Klaus tells FOX23 that a resident made a recent social media post about a missed 911 call.
A family is asking for answers after they say they called 911-and no one answered.
He says during the transition with the recent switch to Saint Francois County 911 dispatch, they are still working out glitches but are investigating the missed call.
A family member of the 911 caller says they placed a 911 call around 12:02 am on January 16, 2025 for a medical emergency to do with a child but no one answered the 911 call. According to a family member the child’s mother then tried calling the hospital who informed her they could not help her directly with 911 not answering the call and gave her the number to the 911 dispatch center in Springfield.
I’m told the mother finally got through to someone and the child was taken to Cardinal Glennon hospital in St. Louis.
Jason Klaus is the Perry County Sheriff he says they are working to resolve the issue.
“This morning, we were alerted just from viewing a social media post that someone reported a 911 call that was not answered. We are currently looking into that, attempting to contact that individual to help resolve that issue.”
According to Sheriff Klaus the Perryville County dispatch center switched over to Saint Francois County dispatch this Tuesday January 14, 2025 at 10:00 am. Klaus said the switch was made for better technology and more efficiency.
Jason King is a retired Chief Petty Officer USCG. He is also a family member of the 911 caller. He says that he strongly disagreed with the switch of dispatch locations.
“And when you’re a citizen out in that town you need the comfort of knowing that, that voice, and that voice, and that voice has got your back and when you start putting this stuff out into other counties or states for that matter they don’t care as much as we do in our community” says King.
Perry County Sheriff says they are working to figure out what could have happened…
“We have not spoken with the caller at this time. We do have some individuals trying to reach out to make sure that we know all the details and all the facts and to troubleshoot if in fact that did happen and make sure all of our technology and all of the things we have in place are actually working.”
Klaus goes on to say they are asking the public to have patience as they know there will be concerns and issues as they get used to the transition.
“We are asking the public that if they are having some concerns to call us directly at the sheriff’s office at the police department so we can identify those and contact those other individuals at St. Francois County and make sure that were doing everything possible that our citizens are receiving that service.”
For any other Perry County residents that may find themselves in the situation of not being able to get through after dialing 911 Klaus says to call the directly.
“Call a landline, the number to our sheriff’s office is 573-547-4576. There will be some prompts. If you hit 1 for an officer that will actually go to St. Francois County. If you hit three for other inquiries it will go to our jail control and that individual can still help walk you through that process and get you the help that you need.”
Klaus says they also want to hear any concerns the public may have and encourage residents to call the sheriff’s department with their worries or concerns.
Related links-
Perry County votes on outsourcing 911 dispatch – KBSI Fox 23 Cape Girardeau News | Paducah News
Perry County dispatch misses two calls – KBSI Fox 23 Cape Girardeau News | Paducah News
