Milwaukee County 9-1-1 Center Fails
JESSE GARZA, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)
Emergency calls to the Milwaukee County sheriff’s office 911 center had to be rerouted to Waukesha County on Tuesday night after the agency’s telephone and computer system crashed, the sheriff’s office said.
Technicians were working to identify the source of the problem and correct it late Tuesday, said sheriff’s office spokeswoman Fran McLaughlin. It was unknown how long it would take to fix the system.
The system, part of the Milwaukee County government telephone and computer network, went down shortly after 7 p.m., McLaughlin said.
An emergency plan that had been developed but never used rerouted 911 calls to the Waukesha County emergency dispatch center, and two Milwaukee County dispatchers were sent there to help with the increased volume of calls, McLaughlin said.
Milwaukee County sheriff’s squads were still able to communicate with dispatchers by radio but had to call Waukesha County dispatch to run license plates, Mc-Laughlin said. She said she was unaware of any delays in service or in answering calls.
Milwaukee County emergency dispatch handles primarily cellphone calls, she said.
It was unclear if landline calls placed in Milwaukee County were affected by the crash.
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