Mass. 911 system back online after outage

The statewide 911 system in Massachusetts shut down Tuesday, according to multiple officials. The outage was first reported early Tuesday afternoon. Public safety officials announced that it was back online at about 3:45 p.m.

The cause was not immediately apparent, and authorities are investigating.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu confirmed the outage in an already-scheduled press conference in City Hall. Officials did not explain why the outage happened or when it could return. Wu and Police Commissioner Michael Cox said they hoped that the issue could be resolved quickly.

The public was urged to use their local red call boxes in case of an emergency. Direct lines of communication to local police and fire departments were still operational.

State Police said that there was a “technical issue affecting public safety answering points (PSAPs)” across Massachusetts. Officials told residents to contact regional dispatch centers by phone.

A public safety alert was sent to Mass. residents’ cell phones. It warned that delays in public safety responses could occur. The Boston Police Department also confirmed the disruption and publicized ways of contacting authorities in the city. The Brockton Fire Department called it a “major” outage. Malden police said that “several agencies in the Greater Boston area” were experiencing outages. Worcester police said that the impacts were statewide.

Boston’s Chief of Emergency Medical Services James Hooley said that the information sharing system that first responders use was still operational, meaning that if one department was contacted, the relevant authorities could still be quickly notified.

Want to leave a comment?

Create an Account Or sign in to your account

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

To comment, please verify your email address

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com