911 System Down Overnight in L.A. County Sheriff's Areas

Outage affected Vesta System, a third-party 911 call platform, before being restored Friday morning.

Published on Mar. 1, 2026

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Los Angeles County's 911 system was down overnight before coming back online Friday morning, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. The outage affected the Vesta System, a third-party public safety call-handling platform used to manage 911 calls within the Sheriff's Department's jurisdiction. During the outage, 911 calls were automatically rerouted to patrol station business lines to maintain emergency coverage.

Why it matters

A 911 system outage can pose a serious public safety risk, as residents may be unable to reach emergency services in a timely manner. The incident highlights the importance of reliable and redundant 911 infrastructure, especially in a large metropolitan area like Los Angeles County.

The details

The 911 system outage began shortly after 6 p.m. on Thursday, when the Sheriff's Department was notified of a service disruption affecting the Vesta System. During the outage, some individual stations were able to accept 911 text messages, and residents were instructed to include their exact location, the nature of the emergency, and their name. The system was fully restored around 7:20 a.m. on Friday.

  • The 911 system outage began shortly after 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 20, 2026.
  • The system was fully restored around 7:20 a.m. on Friday, February 21, 2026.

The players

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

The law enforcement agency responsible for providing emergency services and maintaining the 911 system within its jurisdiction.

Vesta System

A third-party public safety call-handling platform used by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to manage 911 calls.

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The takeaway

This incident highlights the critical importance of reliable and redundant 911 infrastructure, especially in large metropolitan areas. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will likely work with the third-party provider to identify the root cause of the outage and implement measures to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.