City probes Bronx 911 failure after hundreds of calls go unheard
From 3:13 a.m. to 10:19 a.m. on Tuesday, callers and dispatchers were unable to hear each other on certain 911 calls that were routed through a communications router at the Public Service & Government II facility on Marconi Street.
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New York City leaders are investigating what went wrong after more than 1,700 calls to 911 failed on Tuesday morning in the Bronx.
From 3:13 a.m. to 10:19 a.m. on Tuesday, callers and dispatchers were unable to hear each other on certain 911 calls that were routed through a communications router at the Public Service & Government II facility on Marconi Street, according to city officials. The outage was first reported by the New York Times.
The issue was resolved just before 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, and all calls have since been connected and responded to.
Sources tell News 12 that an upgrade or change made by the Mayor's Office of Technology and Innovation was scheduled to go into effect at 3:00 a.m. but instead blocked calls during that time period.
"We performed intensive overnight testing on the system and are monitoring the call delivery, traffic paths, and volume 24/7 in close coordination with our technical providers to ensure there are no additional service impacts," said Jeremy Edwards, deputy press secretary for the mayor's office.
Approximately 5,659 calls to 911 came in during the impacted window. The city says after accounting for alarm systems and duplicate calls, they believe up to 400 people may have been unable to connect with an operator.
"Our investigation into the circumstances of this incident is ongoing. We are focused on understanding exactly what happened, ensuring that affected callers receive the appropriate follow-up and taking all necessary steps to prevent this from happening again," said Edwards.
The Public Safety Answering Center II is the city's backup to the primary 911 call center in Brooklyn. It was completed in 2016 specifically to prevent these types of glitches.
"It seems like perhaps some did not do their due diligence, especially in the Bronx, where it's a heavy 911 call center. This failed for seven hours...this is unprecedented," said Michael Alcazar, a 30-year veteran of the NYPD and professor at John Jay College.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is calling for a full investigation.
"In their most desperate hours, New Yorkers must be able to reach 911. We are deeply concerned about this breakdown. We need a full, expeditious investigation into what caused at least hundreds of calls to fail and a plan to ensure this never occurs again," Williams said.
Meanwhile, Council member Oswald Feliz, who chairs the public safety committee in the City Council, says he plans to organize an oversight hearing on the situation.
"This is beyond concerning, given the public safety challenges that continue to affect the Bronx. This is the most basic function of city government. The city must explain what happened," Feliz said.
