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Changes, upgrades coming to DC’s 911 system after major outages

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Changes, upgrades coming to DC’s 911 system after major outages


WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — There have been several high-profile incidents of D.C.’s 911 system going down.

Now, the Office of Unified Communications is getting a much-needed upgrade.

DC’s 911 call center under new leadership, direction

The IT issues are just part of the problem. There are also major staffing issues that some allege have led to errors.

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City officials spoke for the first time publicly since a baby died while the system shut down earlier this month.

Since December of last year, D.C. City Administrator, Kevin Donahue, said there have been 18 incidents of the 911 system going down for a period of time.

“Eight of the 18 had some pretty significant effects. It has more systemic in nature and most of those dealt with dispatch,” Donahue said.

One of those outages on Aug. 2 lasted two hours. Donahue said a contract employee pushed a change to every workstation at the 911 center instead of the planned one or two stations.

“Totally unacceptable. Totally outside of the norm and expectation of what this person should have done,” Donahue said.

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The contractor was fired that day and the Metropolitan Police Department is investigating what happened.

“Whether it was a mistake, perhaps lack of training, lack of similarity, or whether it was negligence of a criminal nature is an open question,” Donahue said.

DC 911’s call center to offer $800 bonus to employees who show up for work

During that time a five-month-old died. The family first couldn’t contact 911 and then with pen and paper, dispatchers sent medics who were already on another call to the address.

Donahue said everyone followed protocol.

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“But the protocol wasn’t sufficient to be able to accurately understand that we had a unit that the system showed us available, but in fact wasn’t,” Donahue said.

OUC Director Heather McGaffin said her staff did all they could.

“My condolences to the family. Losing a child is unimaginable. Our call takers did everything that they could in those moments to reassure and offer guidance during that time,” McGaffin said.

Donahue said they have a 22-point plan to address the computer-aided dispatch outages.
The most important part is equipment upgrades.

“The equipment we have was not able to keep up with the demands that are being placed on it,” Donahue said.

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DC’s 911 response to shooting worries woman after waiting on hold for nearly 90 seconds

Around $2.5 million of upgrades wasn’t going to start until the new fiscal year on Oct. 1 but because of these incidents, the IT has money now to start doing upgrades.

“We have to learn from that and change how we do things so that there’s not going to be another instance of a family in a similar circumstance,” Donahue said.

Another big component of the problems with 911 is staffing.

Twenty-two call takers are starting at the end of this month. Nineteen vacant dispatcher positions will be filled through promotions from within OUC.

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D.C. handles about 1.8 million calls a year. Call takers and dispatchers handle 70 or 80 calls per 12-hour shift.

DC’s 911 Call Center coming under fire

McGaffin said when they’re fully staffed they’ll look at reducing shift hours from 12 to eight or 10.

“We hold people accountable. We retrain and we separate when we have to,” McGaffin said.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Washington, D.C

WATCH LIVE: No Kings march and rally in DC

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WATCH LIVE: No Kings march and rally in DC


Thousands are expected gather in Washington, D.C. for a “No Kings” march and rally. 

Here’s everything you need to know:

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What is the No Kings protest?

What we know:

Organized locally by area chapters of Indivisible and allied grassroots groups, the event aims to draw protesters to downtown Washington and surrounding counties to oppose policies of the Trump administration and to voice broader concerns about civil rights and democratic norms.

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No Kings protest details

Timeline:

The march will kick off at 10 a.m., with participants gathering at Memorial Circle near Arlington Cemetery, with additional access from the Blue Line or nearby parking at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, according to the event organizers. There is no public parking in the immediate area, but participants can be dropped off at the circle.

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From there, the procession will head across the Memorial Bridge into Washington, D.C., passing the Lincoln Memorial and continuing on to the Washington Monument.

At the conclusion of the march, participants can walk to a downtown rally, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Other ‘No Kings’ rallies in the DMV

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Dig deeper:

In addition to the main rally in downtown D.C., several other demonstrations tied to “No Kings 3” are scheduled around the DMV this Saturday.

In Arlington, Virginia, activists are organizing a march across the Memorial Bridge beginning at 10 a.m., with protesters expected to continue into West Potomac Park before joining larger crowds in the District proper, for example. 

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There are hundreds of “No Kings” events scheduled to take place this Saturday throughout the DMV. You can click here to find a list of all of them. 

How to watch No Kings march and rally in DC

What you can do:

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FOX 5 DC will be covering No Kings in D.C. all day on FOX LOCAL and in the liveplayer at the top of this story. 

FOX 5 DC is available to watch for free on Roku, Amazon FireTV, Apple TV, Google Android TV and Vizio with the FOX LOCAL app. Here’s how to download FOX LOCAL on your mobile phone. 

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‘Strong smell’ shuts down flights at major DC-area airports for the second time this month

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‘Strong smell’ shuts down flights at major DC-area airports for the second time this month


A reported “strong smell” at a key air traffic control center disrupted flights Friday evening at major airports across the Washington, D.C., region for the second time in two weeks.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily halted flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI), Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport (CHO) and Richmond International Airport (RIC), the agency told FOX Business in an email.

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The FAA said the disruptions were due to a “strong smell” at the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) center, which manages airspace in the region.

GROUND STOP LIFTED AT MAJOR DC-AREA AIRPORTS AFTER CHEMICAL ODOR DISRUPTS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

An FAA air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

It was not immediately clear what caused the smell.

Ground stops at Dulles, Reagan National and BWI remained in effect until around 8 p.m. ET before being lifted, according to the FAA’s website.

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NEWARK AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS LOST RADAR, RADIO COMMUNICATIONS WITH PLANES FOR OVER A MINUTE, SPARKING CHAOS

The FAA said the disruption was due to a “strong smell” at the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) center. (Flightradar24)

As of 8:30 p.m., Reagan National was experiencing ground delays, while BWI continued to see departure delays.

Earlier this month, a ground stop was similarly issued at several airports in the Washington, D.C., region after a chemical odor was detected at the TRACON center.

FATAL LAGUARDIA COLLISION RENEWS FOCUS ON RUNWAY INCURSION RISKS ACROSS US

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Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy speaks at a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The temporary ground stop March 13 similarly affected DCA, IAD, BWI and RIC, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the time.

Duffy said the smell came from an overheated circuit board, which has since been replaced.



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50 years of DC Metro: A look back in photos

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50 years of DC Metro: A look back in photos


D.C. residents got on their first Metro train 50 years ago on March 27, 1976. Here’s a look back at the beginning. 

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Connecticut Avenue; NW; looking south. evening traffic-jams are aggravated by metro subway construction in Washington D.C. ca. 1973 (Photo by: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

View of the Metro Center subway station (at 13th and G Streets NW) during its construction, Washington DC, November 16, 1973. (Photo by Warren K Leffler/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

Standing in the cavernous tunnel, planners wearing hard hats discuss the construction progress of the Metro Center subway station at the intersection of 13th and G Streets in Washington, DC, November 16, 1973. (Photo by Leffler/Library of Congress/In

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WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 07: FILE, Metro construction miners and blasters on a jumbo drill outside the hole they are working on at Rock Creek Parkway and Cathedral Ave NW in Washington, DC on November 7, 1973. (Photo by James K.W Atherton/The Washin

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 4: FILE, View of the Post Office at North Capital and Mass Avenue NE, and 1st NE where subway tunnels were being constructed in Washington, DC on March 4, 1974. (Photo by Joe Heiberger/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 29: FILE, Workers rig a pipe at the entrance to the Rosslyn Metro Station in Washington DC on August 29, 1974 (Photo by Larry Morris/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 27: FILE, The crowd at Rhode Island Station on opening day of the Washington Metro on March 27, 1976. (Photo by James A. Parcell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 28: FILE, Reverend Leslie E. Smith of the Episcopal Church, right, and George Docherty of New York Avenue Presbyterian church hold a joint service at the new Metro Center station in Washington, DC on March 28, 1976. (Photo by D

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 1: FILE, An aerial view of metro construction where it crosses the Washington Channel. The Potomac River, the Pentagon and Northern Virginia can be seen in the distance. (Photo by Ken Feil/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 27: FILE, A packed train of commuters on the Silver Spring metro on the Red Line on January 27, 1987. (Photo by Dudley M. Brooks/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 4: FILE, Thousands of people press their way into the Smithsonian Subway station after the Independence Day fireworks in Washington, DC on July 4, 1979. (Photo by Lucian Perkins/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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