The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is kicking off the new year by grappling with a systemwide outage of the computer system in its patrol vehicles, sending the deputies back in time to the days of pen and paper.
And it’s already been three days into 2025, a year the system’s software just won’t recognize.
In speaking with The Los Angeles Times, one deputy with the department called it “our own little Y2K,” referring to the meltdown of computer systems that was expected when outdated computer systems had to make the switch from 1999 to the year 2000.
It could take several more days for the department to fix the problem, which is currently affecting a service area of about 3.5 million people in a law enforcement agency that calls itself the nation’s largest sheriff’s department, according to Sheriff Robert G. Luna.
“In the broader scope of things, the reason this happened is because the system is over 38 years old,” Sheriff Luna said in an interview, adding that he had been working to upgrade its technology since he came into office two years ago.
Around 8 p.m. on Dec. 31, several patrol stations reported that the computer-aided dispatch program in their patrol vehicles was rendered inoperable when personnel tried to log in with the new year, the department said in a statement.
Since then, the department has been forced to return back to basics.
When deputy sheriffs in the field get a dispatch on a range of issues from minor requests to emergency calls, it generally comes over the computer in their patrol vehicles. But now, communication must take place over the radio or cellphones, and deputies have to write down the information in the field, slowing down the department and tying up critical radio airtime, Sheriff Luna said.
Deputies also find themselves unable to perform a simple task in the field, such as checking a driver’s license or seeing if someone has a warrant. Instead, they need to radio or call into one of the 23 patrol stations whose data systems remain up and running — as was done in the days before the internet brought connectivity to patrol vehicles.
The outage has not interrupted the department’s response to calls for service, which are being manually tracked at each station, the sheriff said. Radio communications and 911 lines also remain fully operational.
Sheriff Luna said the system failure “was not a complete surprise” because the department had previously experienced outages, but he added that “it hasn’t been this significant.”
The department said that it is looking for both temporary and long-term solutions to the glitch.
Because of the sheriff’s department’s antiquated system, the deputy sheriffs are accustomed to having to do things the old-fashioned way, the sheriff said.
“In instances like this,” Sheriff Luna said, “it actually helps us to not be so advanced.”
The post Los Angeles Is Living Its ‘Y2K’ in 2025 as Sheriff’s Dispatch System Fails appeared first on New York Times.
