The Oakland Police Department expects its 911 dispatch system to come back online by Thursday evening after the system broke down Wednesday night.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Oakland’s Information Technology Director Tony Batalla said AT&T determined that fiber-optic lines were damaged Wednesday evening, causing the outage.
“Going forward, we’ll continue to work with AT&T and our partners to mitigate and strengthen our infrastructure and ensure incidents like this don’t happen,” he said.
OPD Chief James Beere said police discovered that copper lines throughout the city were also “compromised” last night. OPD is now investigating the disruption as a possible criminal act, he added.
“We’re going to follow every lead,” said Beere. “This is a perfect example of theft leading to something far more severe and serious that could result in people losing their lives.”
In his nearly three decades of working at OPD, Beere said he has never seen fiber-optic lines stop functioning or phone lines be disconnected.
“It was very concerning,” Beere said.
Beere thanked the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office for stepping in to assist OPD dispatchers.
OPD is still only responding to high-priority calls as of Thursday afternoon.
According to city officials, just after 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, OPD’s dispatch system froze and displayed an error message. Dispatchers then tried both emergency and non-emergency lines and discovered there was no service to any phone lines, internet, or computer-aided dispatch.
Shortly after 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, all 911 calls to OPD were transferred to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. OPD dispatchers were moved to the Oakland Fire Department’s dispatch center and the Alameda County Sheriff’s dispatch center, according to the city.
As of Thursday afternoon, OPD is only responding to “Priority 1” calls, or emergencies that pose an imminent threat to life or serious injuries, an ongoing violent crime, or an urgent public safety hazard. OFD is still able to respond to all fire and medical calls.
The city’s IT Department has been working with AT&T to restore service, according to city officials.
OAK311 lines are also down due to the same issue. To report an infrastructure emergency, such as flooding or a downed power line, call 911. To report non-emergencies, like potholes or illegal dumping, email OAK311@oaklandca.gov.
A service outage also affected Berkeley’s dispatch center last night, when city officials there said a “small fire” broke out at Berkeley Police Department headquarters, triggering the building’s sprinkler system and evacuating workers inside. All 911 calls were rerouted to an Alameda County dispatch center until service was restored around 10 p.m.
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
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