Police departments across the state have been having issues with 911 calls, routine calls or both on Tuesday afternoon and a state emergency alert went out notifying residents.
The state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection said the CT 911 capability began experiencing issues across the state at 11:49 a.m. on Tuesday and urged people who cannot call 911 to text to 911 if there is an emergency.
Police departments are asking residents not to call 911 just to see if it works if you do not have an emergency.
“DESPP is coordinating with partners and working on resolving the issue,’’ Clayton Northgraves, director of Statewide Emergency Communications, said in a statement.
“This is a commercial carrier equipment issue. There is not any evidence to indicate a deliberate attack. We do not have confirmation from every municipality that they are having issues, but the issue is being seen across the state.”
As of 2:30 p.m., 911 service was returning to communities.
The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection said they do not have an estimated time for full restoration of services.
Do not call 9-1-1 unless you have an emergency.
— CT Emergency Management & Homeland Security (@CTDEMHS) October 22, 2024
In a statement, AT&T said they were informed of a technical problem on another provider’s network that may have affected some of their customers in the state. They say the issue has since been resolved.
This is what several police departments are saying about the issue.
Ansonia
Ansonia police said the 911 emergency system is down in Ansonia and multiple other locations in Connecticut.
To reach the Ansonia Police Department in an emergency, call the main line at 203-735-1885.
Avon
Berlin
The routine phone lines for the Police Department are currently down. Please use the following # for any routine police matters, 860-250-0350. The 911 system is not affected by this outage.
Bloomfield
Bloomfield police said their routine call line is down and they are working on resolving this issue as soon as possible.
Branford
Bridgeport
Bridgewater
Brookfield
Brookfield police said they are not impacted.
Burlington
Cheshire
Clinton
Clinton police said they have been advised of a cellular outage affecting 911 and routine calls to its dispatch center and other dispatch centers throughout the state. Landlines are still working.
AT&T and the state’s 911 provider are working to resolve the issue, according to Clinton police.
Danbury
Danbury police have established two temporary 10-digit numbers to be used for emergencies:
- Line 1: 860-867-7347
- Line 2: 860-867-7572
These lines will ring into the 911 Center. Only use these numbers if you are experiencing an emergency. Texting 9-1-1 is still available.
Restoration is currently TBD. This intermittent outage is also impacting the City of Danbury buildings and offices. Please use email where possible.
Deep River
A post on the Deep River website says to text 911 if you need emergency assistance.
East Hampton
East Hartford
East Hartford police said the routine non-emergency line for police and fire departments is out of service due to a carrier issue. For non-emergencies, call (860) 291-7101. For emergencies, call 911.
East Haven
East Lyme
East Windsor
Ellington
Ellington public schools are experiencing a phone service outage as a part of the widespread issue.
They are working with their service provider to resolve the issue. In the interim, you can contact your school’s main office by email for time-sensitive concerns.
Enfield
Essex
Fairfield
Farmington
Hartford
Hartford police said 911 and the main police number are working again.
911 is temporarily down statewide and incoming calls to HPD dispatch is intermittent.
We will advise on updates as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/MFIJpknv3I— Hartford Police CT (@HartfordPolice) October 22, 2024
Middletown
New Haven
In light of the current statewide outage of the 911 emergency call line, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker sent the following message to New Haven residents via the New Haven Alerts emergency notification system and on social media platforms urging New Haven residents to call and utilize the Yale emergency call line at 203-432-4400 for life-threatening emergencies. All calls will then be received, routed and responded to accordingly.
Hi, this is Mayor Justin Elicker with an important message for New Haven residents about the current statewide outage of the 9-1-1 emergency phone line.
The is currently a temporary statewide outage of the 9-1-1 emergency phone line, which is impacting the City of New Haven and many municipalities across Connecticut. We’ve been advised this outage may be for several hours.
In the interim, if you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, you can call the Yale emergency call center at 203-432-4400. Again, if you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, call 203-432-4400.
We are actively working with the state and emergency services personnel to restore service as quickly as possible and will update residents accordingly. Thank you for your cooperation and stay safe.
Hola, soy el alcalde Justin Elicker con un mensaje para los residentes de New Haven sobre el corte actual de la línea telefónica de emergencia 9-1-1 en todo el estado.
Actualmente hay una interrupción temporal en todo el estado de la línea telefónica de emergencia 9-1-1, que está afectando a la ciudad de New Haven y a muchos municipios de Connecticut. Nos han informado que esta interrupción puede durar varias horas.
Mientras tanto, si tiene una emergencia que pone en peligro su vida, puede llamar al centro de llamadas de emergencia de Yale al 203-432-4400. Nuevamente, si experimenta una emergencia que pone en peligro su vida, llame al 203-432-4400.
Estamos trabajando activamente con el personal de los servicios estatales y de emergencia para restaurar el servicio lo más rápido posible. Gracias por su cooperación y manténgase a salvo.
Simsbury
Simsbury police said their routine phone lines are experiencing technical difficulties. Their 911 system is operating with no issues.
Wallingford
Many communities have experienced a failure of phone lines and Emergency 911 lines, including the Wallingford Communications Center.
If you have an emergency, you can contact the Wallingford Emergency Communications Center at one of the following numbers:
- 203-599-5182
- 203-443-3425
- 203-577-7302
Wallingford police ask that any routine matters that are not an emergency be held until normal service is resumed.
West Hartford
West Hartford police said they are receiving information that Verizon Wireless and landline are not working for 911, while T-Mobile and AT&T appear to be working for 911.
All routine lines are down.
UPDATE – We are receiving information that Verizon Wireless and landline are not working for 9-1-1.
T-Mobile and AT&T appear to be working for 9-1-1.
All routine lines are down.— West Hartford Police (@WestHartfordPD) October 22, 2024
Westport
The Westport Police Department is experiencing intermittent telephone outages, including 911.
They said the outages appear to be associated with landlines while cellular 911 does not appear to be affected. If you are experiencing an emergency, please call or text 911 from a cellular telephone.
