On June 18, 2024, Massachusetts experienced a statewide outage of its 911 emergency services that lasted over an hour. The cause of the disruption is currently under investigation by the Massachusetts State 911 Department. During this time, residents were advised to contact their local police departments directly or use emergency call boxes if they required assistance.
The outage affected all areas of Massachusetts and was not limited to any specific region or city. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu confirmed the issue during a press conference and urged residents to remain patient while efforts were made to restore the service.
Connecticut residents mistakenly received emergency alerts about the Massachusetts 911 outage, but officials in Connecticut assured their public that their own 911 system remained operational. New Hampshire also reported some of its cell phone users receiving notifications about the Massachusetts outage, but emphasized that their state's 911 services were unaffected.
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security announced the restoration of the 911 system around 3:45 p.m. on June 18, allowing residents to resume making emergency calls as usual.
This is not the first time Massachusetts has experienced issues with its emergency services. In February 2024, municipalities across the country reported difficulties with their 911 systems following an outage affecting AT&T and other cell providers. The Massachusetts State 911 Department also experienced a disruption during that incident but was able to restore service within hours.
The Massachusetts State 911 system is managed and operated by the State 911 Department and uses Next Generation 911 with redundancies to reroute calls in case of emergencies. Despite these measures, outages can still occur due to various reasons such as technical difficulties or natural disasters.
