Sacramento resident Rebecca Holden said she was beaten in broad daylight outside of her apartment last week. But when she called police for help, she said she was told by a dispatcher that no officer would come to her aid.
"After she said that, I didn't really hear anything else she said," Holden said. "I was pretty upset. I was angry."
Holden complained about the police response and on Tuesday received an apology from the department.
She said she did not know her attacker and did not get a good look at his car.
Police explained that they have a procedure to determine response to a reported assault.
Officials said an officer will respond if a crime is in progress, if the attacker is still on the scene, if there is a serious injury involved or if there are further investigative leads such as a good description of the assailant.
After reviewing the 911 tape of the Holden incident, police said they probably should have responded in person.
"We made a mistake," Sgt. Matt Young said.
Holden said she felt the lack of response when she first called police essentially "victimized victims."
"When something like this happens, it's something we take extremely seriously and that's why we've take the steps we have to hopefully rectify the situation," Young said.
Holden said she accepted the department's apology when an official called, adding that she hopes the man who attacked her will eventually be caught.
Meanwhile, the Sacramento Police Department is at the bottom of a list in a new nationwide staffing report.
In Honolulu, there are about 2,000 police officers for a city of 377,000 people.
But in Sacramento, there are just 668 officers for nearly 500,000 residents, leaving the capital with the lowest officer-to-citizen ratio of the largest 50 cities in the nation.
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