California IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : Emergency Call System Goes Down

A power surge triggered a “neural breakdown” in the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department communications center Tuesday morning, halting all emergency calls and radio dispatches for nearly two hours and prompting new calls for a major overhaul of the antiquated system. Officials were not immediately able to determine whether the breakdown led to any life-threatening situations. The communications center in Kearny Mesa, which takes service calls and forwards them to patrol officers, shut down about 10:15 a.m. When a backup power source also failed, three dispatchers sat at a card table at a makeshift communications center in El Cajon where they attempted to take as many calls as possible. “We’re flat on our backs. It’s simply a neural breakdown,” reported sheriff’s assistant Dan Greenblat. By noon, the system was repaired and back in order, but 57 emergency 911 calls had been diverted to the San Diego Police Department. San Diego police phoned dispatchers who called sheriff substations to pass the calls along.