The following is a NY Daily News article:

Elected officials reacted with outrage Monday to a Daily News probe that found it nearly impossible to get through to many police stationhouses by telephone.

City Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) – whose district includes the worst-rated 66th Precinct – blamed ancient phone systems and bad police behavior.

Phone systems need to be modernized, but “even with brand-new phone equipment, someone at the precinct still needs to pick up the phone,” he said.

As part of a month-long probe, The News phoned all 76 city stationhouses and found 40% of the precincts did an “unacceptable” job answering the phone.

To earn an acceptable rating, cops had to pick up in fewer than 10 rings on at least five of the seven calls.

At the 66th Precinct, the phone rang 52 times on one call before going to a busy signal, and a cop answered another call after 16 rings – and promptly hung up.

City Council Public Safety Committee Chairman Peter Vallone (D-Queens) said cuts to the Police Department have left cops stretched too thin, noting the size of the force has fallen by 6,000 since 2001.

“The more you cut cops, the more the phones will ring,” Vallone said. The mayor’s office declined to comment on The News’ findings. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said department reviews found much different results.

In the past six months, only 30 of 3,535 test calls placed to precincts weren’t answered promptly, less than 1%, he said.

“In these instances, commanders were directed to address delays,” Browne said.

(LINK to NY Daily News)