Montgomery County Police found their officers followed protocol after coming under fire for taking .
The Coalition for Concerned Citizens had questioned police why it took them one hour and ten minutes to respond to a home burglary alarm call after being notified.
Police told Patch Tuesday their officers were following dispatch orders.
“There was a little bit of a delay because the officer unit dispatched to that call was sent to another call that came into the queue of a burglary in progress,” said Cpt. Paul Starks, spokesman for the Montgomery County Police.
Starks said officers are often rerouted depending on the urgency of calls that come into the dispatch center.
“We thought the call of a burglary in progress which was nearby in Potomac could have been related,” Starks said.
Potomac had experienced a string of 14 burglaries and attempted burglaries reported in October and another 10 reported for the month of September. Police are investigating the two men and their possible involvement in several residential burglaries that occurred during the last few months in the Bethesda, Rockville and Darnestown areas of Montgomery County.
Starks said police did follow up to determine why the longer-than-usual response time in the Potomac case.
“When a person’s home is burglarized they feel very victimized,” he said. “They want the police now and have the right to ask whey they were delayed. We need those questions asked so we can articulate the reasons rather than have them think we aren’t working effectively.”
If the burglary was in progress, the response time is unacceptable.