As part of the Legislature’s oversight function, we received a report on the July 15 emergency 911 outage. We continue to work closely with Emergency Response to do everything possible to prevent this from happening again. I have summarized the facts below.
On July 15, Dutchess County experienced a major issue when 911 services were unavailable for several hours. The trouble began when a cement truck knocked down a fiber cable on East Dorsey Lane in Hyde Park. That cable carried cell phone calls to the county’s 911 center. Landline calls to the City of Poughkeepsie backup system still worked, but people calling 911 from cell phones could not get through. The problem was unusual because it only affected Dutchess County, and the automatic backup system failed to activate as it was supposed to.
County staff quickly worked with Verizon and the county’s technology office to find a fix. They sent out a Wireless Emergency Alert (like an Amber Alert) to cell phones, TVs, radios, and highway signs. The alert instructed people to call special seven-digit phone numbers that directly connected to the 911 call takers. This was the first time the county used that system, and it worked across the county. While the alert caused a wave of phone calls, 911 workers were still able to answer real emergencies without missing any.
At the same time, Verizon crews rushed to fix the broken fiber line. The county’s communication team also set up backup phone lines with the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department to make sure no calls were lost. By approximately 9 p.m., the fiber cable had been repaired, and 911 service was restored to normal. No emergency calls were missed, and text-to-911 continued to work during the outage.
After the incident, county leaders met with Verizon engineers to make sure this doesn’t happen again. They are testing the backup lines, fixing damaged poles and wires, and pushing Verizon to better maintain equipment around the county’s 911 system. The outage showed that the county’s alert system can reach people quickly, but also that stronger backup systems and better upkeep are needed to keep 911 safe.
