ATL Standard

The city of Atlanta had to route 911 calls to Fulton County twice last month after a power outage left its center inoperable.

“On the afternoon of Nov. 22, 2021, the Atlanta Police Department’s E911 Communications Center experienced a power outage, causing commanders to move operations to Fulton County’s Center," the department said in a press release. "Our backup battery system allowed us to keep our center operational during the transition. Our dispatchers are now operating from the Fulton County E911 Center and we are working to restore power in our center, as well as address the issues causing these problems.” 

The department posted on Twitter that response times to 911 calls would not be affected.

‘’The 911 center is still operating in the backup location and there’s no estimation on when the power outage will be fixed. 911 continues to operate as usual and citizens should not notice a difference,” the department wrote.  

This marked the second time in as many weeks that the city’s call center was without power, according to FOX 5.

A prior incident occurred earlier last month and the department found that its backup systems, at the time, were not functioning as designed, according to FOX 5.

The police department attributed the initial power outage to water leak, but assured citizens that they had plans in emergency cases such as a power outage.

“Atlanta's Public Safety E911 Center has experienced a temporary power outage, due to a water leak. We have shifted operations to our backup center and remain able to receive and dispatch 911 calls. We have contingencies in place to ensure we maintain emergency services, even while experiencing issues like this,” the department said in a statement.

Atlanta Police Department’s E911 Communications Center successfully maneuvered operations to Fulton County’s Center, while a backup battery system was still operable to allow for a seamless transition, according to FOX 5.