Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officers respond to emergency calls the old-fashioned way by radio after the department’s computer dispatch system crashed hours before midnight, rendering patrol car computers essentially useless. authorities confirmed to KTLA.
The incident occurred amid disruption to New Year’s Eve celebrations across the region, including illegal fireworks shows, violent street occupations, and an impending Rose Parade and bowl game.
A sheriff’s official told KTLA that deputies from several different departments had reported problems logging on to computers in their patrol cars, and began hearing about the issue starting around 8 p.m. It is said that it has started.
It’s unclear how long it took to determine the cause of the crash, but officials later said the computer-aided dispatch program (CAD) was not allowing lawmakers to log in for the new year, rendering the entire system inoperable. He said it became.
One lawmaker, who spoke to the Los Angeles Times on condition of anonymity, called the system failure “our own little Y2K problem.”
Other department systems continued to operate normally, including the 911 line, deputies’ body-worn cameras and email.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department police car, photographed June 23, 2024 (KTLA)
However, due to the CAD failure, telephone operators had to manually record the details of the emergency, relay that information to the dispatcher, who then placed a radio call to the congressman, who also information had to be written down.
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One lawmaker who spoke to the Times said the crash made everyone’s work difficult, but that calls were still being answered and manually tracked at the central office level.
“The department is working closely with our Los Angeles County partners at the Department of Internal Affairs to find temporary and long-term solutions to resolve this technical issue,” sheriff’s officials told KTLA. .
Richard Pippin, president of the Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs Association, the union that represents sheriff’s deputies, criticized the system failures, telling the Times that the department is “under-resourced” when it comes to training, facilities, equipment and technology. .
In a statement regarding the computer failure, sheriff’s officials told KTLA that a formal request was made in December 2023 to obtain a new, modernized, centralized CAD system.
“The department has long faced significant challenges from outdated technology, and the Sheriff has emphasized since taking office the urgent need to improve and upgrade internal systems,” the officials added.
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