911 LA County Sheriff's Department system restored after overnight outage

An overnight 911 system outage affecting the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's jurisdiction has been restored.

The Sheriff's Department said its system went down at about 6:02 p.m. Thursday, and 911 calls had to be redirected to local patrol stations' business lines to limit the impact on emergency response.  

At 7 a.m. on Friday, the department said the problem was fixed. "All 911 and Sheriff's Station business lines have been fully restored and are now operational," the department wrote.

At the onset of the problem, the Sheriff's Department said its electricians and crews from its telecommunications provider were working to restore full service as quickly as possible. 

"We appreciate the community's understanding and want to reassure our residents that we are taking all necessary steps to maintain emergency response services while this issue is being resolved," LASD wrote in a statement. "Department personnel are proactively planning for contingencies to ensure continuity of service and to limit any potential disruption to emergency response operations."

Last year, LASD experienced problems with a separate dispatch system, which allows 911 operators to electronically relay information to deputies.

It patched its nearly 40-year-old computer-aided dispatch system just before the Palisades and Eaton Fires, but it crashed about a month later, forcing 911 operators to write notes and relay information to responding deputies via radio or phone. 

The Sheriff's Department said they have "long struggled with outdated technology." Last year, Sheriff Robert Luna stressed the need to upgrade the decades-old system and developed a multi-year plan to replace the equipment.   

Deputies could not immediately determine the extent of the impact.