The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department used a “temporary fix” on Friday to bring its computer system back online after it crashed on New Year’s Eve, authorities said.
Problems with the 38-year-old computer-assisted system — known as CAD — were first reported around 8 p.m. Tuesday when deputies at multiple stations reported problems accessing their vehicles’ computers, officials told The Times in a statement.
The problem has forced the department to use old-school methods of handling calls, with dispatchers writing down the details of calls and relaying the information to deputies over the radio. At the time of the CAD crash, deputies were unable to run license plates or backgrounds through their vehicles’ computers.
These issues have now been resolved due to a temporary fix to a programming issue the CAD system encountered, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The accident caused criticism of the department’s out-of-date computer system and calls were made to fix the issue.
Former Sheriff Alex Villanueva weighed in online, pointing to his letter to the LA County Board of Supervisors in 2022 at the X post.
“It’s not a matter of ‘if’ there will be a catastrophic and irreparable RMS failure. [records management system] or a CAD system, but the question is ‘when,'” he wrote in a 2022 letter. “This failure will create a significant risk to the citizens of Los Angeles County, which could be avoided through the modernization and replacement of the CAD and RMS systems.”
Department officials do not deny that the system is in dire need of a fix and say Sheriff Robert Luna is working to fix the issue.
“The department has long struggled with outdated technology, and since taking office, the Sheriff has emphasized the importance of improving and improving our internal systems,” the department said in a statement Friday. “In his first six months in office, the Sheriff faced the need to replace outdated CAD, among other programs, and develop a multi-year equipment replacement plan.”
The department has issued a request for proposals for a new CAD program in mid-2023 and is currently reviewing potential proposals, the statement said. Testing of one program may begin next week at selected monitoring stations, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
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