A file photo of Trenton resident Dan Dodson.

TRENTON — Police officials are examining the response to a 911 call Sunday night that left a city man struggling with an intruder at his building without any officers arriving.

Dan Dodson said it was 20 or 30 minutes before two officers eventually arrived in response to his wife’s calls to police telephone numbers.

“We’re looking into it to determine if the proper protocols were followed,” Lt. Steve Varn said yesterday evening.

Yesterday, Dodson said he was deciding where to buy a baseball bat in case someone else was able to slip into his home. He believes one of the two tenants who live in apartments of his building on the 300 block of South Broad Street accidentally left the front door ajar, which allowed a drunken and belligerent man access to the vestibule of the apartment unit Dodson shares with his wife and 17-month-old son. The man gained access about 10 p.m., he said.

Update: Trenton police say response to home intruder call was appropriate

Dodson said his wife dialed 911 and told police her husband was scuffling with an intruder.

“I’m going hand to hand with this guy and she’s calling 911, and they said to call the non-emergency number, and to call back if it got any worse,” Dodson said.

When Dodson’s wife called the non-emergency number, the dispatcher said there were no police units available to send. In the meantime Dodson continued to confront the man outside his home, who he said was irrational and violent.

“He just said, ‘You can’t tell me to leave,’ and all that kind of stuff,” Dodson said.

Dodson finally kicked the man out of his building after what he estimated was 10 minutes of struggling, pushing the intruder onto Broad Street, where he hoped he would be arrested by police officers.

“I thought in a matter of minutes there was going to be blue lights outside,” he said.

No arrests have been made in the case. Police officials have the response under administrative review.

Yesterday, Dodson said he wasn’t angry or bitter. The two police officers who finally arrived after the man left said they arrived as quickly as they could, and Dodson takes them at their word.

“They blamed it on dispatch. They said they came when they got the call,” he said.

"Which I have no reason to disbelieve, because the radio room told us to go away."

In a city whose police department still hasn't recovered from the layoffs of 105 officers in Sept. 2011, police response has become a sensitive issue. Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr. said recently his force was down more than 140 officers, including retirements.

Dodson wonders if police are no longer placing a priority on a response for particular crimes.

“I want the police department to be clear about what they’re doing, because citizens have to plan,” he said. “If we really have no defense against home invasion, I think we need to be clear about that.”

“They either need to fix it or tell us they can’t do it and get us to plan accordingly, but the worst thing is not to know what to expect from a police department,” Dodson said.

“The worst thing you can do is not tell the public what to expect,” he added.

Dodson used to be active in city government, attending council meetings and serving on boards such as the one overseeing the downtown Marriott. Recently, he said he redirected his energies to working more, to earn the money he said he needs to fortify his home.

“I need to turn my house into a fortress, that’s what I need to focus on,” he said. “Obviously the police department cannot offer any level of protection for quality-of-life issues.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to police at (609) 989-4170, or the Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.

Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.

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