Vandals cut AT&T lines and knock out Oakland 911 for nearly two days

Vandals damaged AT&T copper and fiber-optic lines, knocking out Oakland’s 911 dispatch system for police and fire at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The vandalism severed emergency and non-emergency phone lines, internet service and computer-aided dispatch (a system that helps dispatchers log calls and send units) across Oakland. Shortly after 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, OPD transferred all 911 calls to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Oakland dispatchers worked from the Oakland Fire Department dispatch center and the Alameda County Sheriff’s dispatch center while fire dispatchers continued handling all fire and medical calls and police responded only to the most serious emergencies.

As of Thursday afternoon, OPD answered only Priority 1 calls: imminent threats to life or serious injuries, ongoing violent crimes or urgent public safety hazards. The computer-aided dispatch system returned Thursday afternoon, though phone service remained impaired. The city announced on Oct. 23 at 9 a.m. that 911 phone service was restored. Full phone service to all city systems came back Friday morning after an outage of more than 36 hours, or nearly two days.

AT&T confirmed Thursday that criminals damaged copper and fiber-optic facilities, interrupting emergency call routing for some Oakland customers. Oakland police are investigating the outage as a possible crime, working with the FBI and pursuing leads, and no arrests have been announced. Police asked the public to report suspicious people cutting or removing cables, warning such crimes can cost lives.

Police Chief James Beere, a nearly 30-year veteran, said he had never seen optic lines fail or phones disconnected while fire dispatching was also affected. Beere warned the theft could lead to deaths among people seeking emergency help. Mayor Barbara Lee said she wants to reassure residents that 911 is open and dispatchers are available. Oakland Information Technology Director Tony Batalla said the city will keep working with AT&T and partners to strengthen infrastructure.

The city had contingency plans, but both initial fallback plans failed and Beere did not detail them. Beere said he discussed alternative technologies with Oakland Fire Department Chief Damon Covington, including systems that do not rely on ground-based communications lines. The city is working with AT&T and other partners to harden critical infrastructure and improve backup systems.

A 911 systems expert, Mark Chase, said current 911 technology relies on aging copper wiring that is reliable but subject to failure. Next-Generation 911 is an internet-based alternative that uses fiber-optic cables rather than copper wiring.

Riverside County and Santa Barbara experienced separate 911 disruptions Thursday, and officials said no connection to the Oakland vandalism has been established. Morgan Hill and Gilroy police said thieves cutting copper wire knocked out non-emergency phone lines, while 911 service there was unaffected and no restoration estimate exists.

A small fire at Berkeley Police Department headquarters triggered sprinklers and evacuated staff. Berkeley 911 calls went to the county dispatch center until service returned around 10 p.m.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office told cellular users who cannot reach 911 to call 951-776-1078 and asked the public to avoid unnecessary test calls. OAK311 (Oakland’s non-emergency line) lines were also down, and the city directed non-emergency reports such as potholes or illegal dumping to OAK311@oaklandca.gov by email.