Power surge briefly reroutes Nassau 911 calls

Calls to Nassau's 911 system were rerouted directly to police precincts for about 15 minutes Thursday after a power surge during routine maintenance of the system, a police spokesman said Friday.

The surge at about 2 p.m. caused a glitch in the system and moved emergency operators to police headquarters, said Det. Lt. Kevin Smith of the department's public information office.

Workers needed about 12 hours to restore the system to normal, Smith said.

"Luckily, we practice for this to happen about two or three times a year in the event of a fire or emergency," Smith said. "We reroute the calls and set up a new base of operation."

Smith said a preliminary check indicated that no emergency calls were missed during the rerouting period. He said police were double-checking with Verizon, the department's telephone provider.

County Executive Edward Mangano said his administration is replacing the current 911 system. A $7-million state-of-the-art call center is scheduled to open in November, he said in a statement.