(Photo illustration by Getty Images)
Just after lunchtime on June 18, Massachusetts’ leaders discovered that the statewide 911 system was down.
A scramble to handle the crisis was on.
Police texted out administrative numbers that callers could use, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu gave outage updates at a press conference outlining plans for the Celtics’ championship parade, and local officials urged people to summon help by pulling red fire alarm boxes.
About 7 million people went roughly two hours with no 911 service. Such crashes have become more of a feature than a bug in the nation’s fragmented emergency response system.
Outages have hit at least eight states this year. They’re emblematic of problems plaguing emergency communications due in part to wide disparities in the systems’ age and capabilities, and in funding of 911 systems across the country. While some states, cities, and counties have already modernized their systems or have made plans to upgrade, many others are lagging.