Oakland Police Union Blasts Metropolis Over 911 System Failure

Oakland’s 911 system went down Thursday after a backup generator meant to counter an influence outage failed, leaving residents calling for help with no recourse, in line with town’s police union.

Even after energy was restored, the system was not returned instantly to working order, in line with the Oakland Police Officers’ Affiliation, which mentioned as of Friday morning, the system stays sluggish. 

The system’s points seem to have begun Thursday afternoon, in line with a sequence of tweets from the Metropolis of Oakland, which mentioned technical points started to gradual the 911 system at 3 p.m.

“All emergency calls are being answered and appropriately dispatched for police, fireplace, and medical providers,” a message on town’s Twitter account mentioned. “In case your name drops otherwise you obtain a busy sign, please grasp up and name again. Please solely name 911 in case you have an emergency.”

The Oakland Police Division didn’t reply to a request for remark by publication time on Friday.

The police union blasted the failure as one thing it warned town and Mayor Sheng Thao would occur. 

“Two weeks in the past the Alameda County Grand Jury warned that Oakland’s 911 system was dealing with imminent collapse—yesterday it occurred,” a police union press launch mentioned.

The union’s president, Barry Donelan, mentioned in a press release the failure was due partially to price range cuts that impacted public security positions.

That narrative was countered by Oakland Metropolis Councilmember at Giant Rebecca Kaplan.

“In accordance with the Grand Jury report, even after the council voted to fund extra 911 dispatcher positions, OPD declined to rent these civilian roles, by telling [the] hiring staff to not prioritize them,” she wrote in a tweet.