Posted on 07/03/25
| News Source: WBAL TV
Baltimore, MD - July 3, 2025 - Baltimore fire dispatch never received a call from police seeking a medic for an unresponsive man, city says
The Baltimore City Fire Department never received a police officer's call for a medic after a man became unresponsive while in custody and later died at a hospital, officials said.
Around 9:40 p.m. on June 24, a man who officials said was experiencing a mental health crisis stopped a marked patrol car at the intersection of West Franklin Street and North Franklintown Road, officials said.
"He thinks someone is chasing him. No one is chasing him," an officer said over police radio.
Police said the man walked into the middle of the road several times before officers eventually restrained him and called for a medic.
"Can we make sure a medic is in route?" an officer asked over radio.
Despite police trying to call for a medic to take the man to a hospital, the ambulance never came.
11 News Investigates has learned that fire dispatchers never received the officers' call, and the officers were unaware at the time that the city's Computer-Aided Dispatch System was not working, officials have since said.
"When a police officer is on the street and requests assistance from the fire department or medic unit, they will send it over to our CAD system through their CAD. And, obviously, if our CAD system is down, we won't get it," said Matthew Coster, president of Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734.
The man in police custody became unresponsive.
"They have shackles and handcuffs on him," an officer said over police radio. "We have to figure out some transportation to get him off the street."
After an hour of waiting, officers put the man in a police vehicle and took him to a hospital, where he ultimately died. Residents told 11 News Investigates that they were familiar with the man who was wandering into the street.
The Maryland Attorney General's Office is investigating the death while the mayor said the city is looking into why the CAD system broke down.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said there is a backup system in place when something like that happens, but union officials said that didn't work either.
"CAD is a technology system, right? We know that technology systems fail," Scott said. "We are investigating what happened during that particular incident, how that played a part in that unfortunate incident that happened last weekend."
Had police known the fire CAD system was down, officials said they could call or send a message to fire dispatch — that's the backup system.
"Obviously, the public relies on 911 enormously in Baltimore City, so if we are not able to respond or send the proper resources to the proper cause, then it is a safety issue," Coster said.
According to city fire officials, there was talk two years ago about replacing the outdated system, but the $10 million price put it on hold.
"The system shuts down when it gets overloaded, power outages," Coster said. "It is very serious when our CAD system goes down, our 911 system goes down. We need to respond to those emergencies."
Union officials said the CAD failure has happened before, lasting for minutes, hours or even days.