California triggers transparency concerns after sinking $450 million into scrapped 911 project

California’s move to abandon a plan revamping the state’s antiquated 911 system, after spending hundreds of millions on the project, has critics fuming. 

In 2019, California began working toward becoming the first state to institute a regionalized approach to implement its Next Generation 911 system, which was replacing 1970s-era technology. Instead of the statewide system traditionally used, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services hoped a regionalized approach would prevent a single point of failure from causing a widespread outage by implementing three regional sectors and a fourth “prime” backup provider for statewide coverage. 

But after spending around $450 million to build out the system, Cal OES halted the project last year due to “operational difficulties,” citing issues with the regional approach and stating it would pivot back toward the statewide approach. 

Cal OES currently has a 2030 target date for implementing the new system. In the meantime, it will continue using decades-old infrastructure for emergency systems that have raised concerns, particularly in the wake of sweeping fires and other crises the state has faced. 

The debacle, which comes on the heels of the state’s high-speed rail project that has similarly triggered criticism for facing sweeping delays and going billions of dollars over budget, has sparked concern from the California Fire Chiefs Association. 

Jeff Meston, CFCA’s executive director, said one of the association’s biggest concerns is the lack of transparency from Cal OES, according to the Sacramento Bee. 

“We just don’t have faith in the process, nor have we been necessarily engaged in the process,” Meston said.

Cal OES has yet to reveal the price tag for its new plan. A new transition report published for the 911 system design last week had several 911 Advisory Board members frustrated by the lack of details. 

“This doesn’t have any benchmarks, no deliverables, it’s just a high-level report with a lot of zeros at the end,” Santa Barbara County Deputy Fire Chief Garrett Huff, a board member, said last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Democratic state Sen. Laura Richardson, who chairs a Senate budget subcommittee, rebuked Cal OES officials about the project’s ballooning cost during a hearing earlier this year. 

“When we set a budget, we need to work to it. When we set a timeline, we need to work to it,” Richardson said. Cal OES needs to provide an estimation for the project’s ultimate cost because “we can’t continue to expect the taxpayers to pay and pay and pay,” Richardson added.

Several of the four technology companies the state originally contracted with to develop the regional 911 system have accused officials of failing to effectively manage taxpayer dollars. 

Redesigning and installing the new statewide technology cost “hundreds of millions … to actually redo what they’ve already built,” Jeff Schlueter, the chief operating officer of Synergem Technologies, told the outlet. 

Representatives for Synergem and NGA 911 said the state could have worked with them to address and resolve issues it found with the regional system after bumping into hurdles last year, instead of unilaterally deciding they were insurmountable obstacles. 

“The proper handling is not to kick the can down the road for another group of people to deal with it,” said Don Ferguson, the CEO of NGA 911. “It’s to take the experience that has been accumulated in this project and to allow that experience to carry it forward.”

State officials originally estimated every dispatch center in the state would be connected to the new regional network by 2021, then later pushed completion estimates back to 2022, according to NBC News. 

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But just 23 of the state’s roughly 450 emergency dispatch centers are currently accepting emergency calls over the Next Gen 911 network, according to Cal OES. 

“Smart, thoughtful changes are necessary,” said Cal OES Chief Deputy Director Lisa Mangat at last Wednesday’s State 911 Advisory Board meeting. “We hope that you see we are committed to not only the success of the project, but open, transparent communication.”