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City explores modernizing aging emergency call boxes after reports of outages
Summary
Supervisor Peskin pressed city departments about widespread outages of the red street alarm boxes; Department of Technology said about 2,300 boxes exist with roughly 2,014 working (87%), noted copper infrastructure and parts shortages, and described a pilot for radio/cellular/solar modernization with a capital ask for 2018–19.
Supervisor Peskin opened a hearing after media reports that many of the city’s street alarm boxes were out of service. Linda Jarrell, director at the Department of Technology, apologized for public confusion and outlined the system’s history and technical limitations: the boxes date to the 1860s, operate over an aging copper‑cable network (about 200 miles underground and 150 miles overhead), and rely on infrastructure and parts that are no longer widely manufactured.
Jarrell said the city has about 2,300 street alarm boxes and that roughly 2,014 were working at the time of the presentation (about 87% operational). She noted that while the boxes account for a small share of total emergency pulls, they provide a mapped, location‑specific reporting mechanism and serve as a redundant system — a point Deputy Chief Tony Rivera of the Fire Department emphasized when he said street boxes can be vital for populations without cell phones and during catastrophic events when wireless service may be degraded.
Jarrell described common causes of outages (rain, construction, vandalism), procurement difficulties and the approaching expiration of AT&T’s long‑term conduit arrangement in 2021 as complicating factors. The Department of Technology has begun a small pilot of radio‑based and solar options and has included a capital planning request for 2018–19 to study and fund modernization options that could provide daily status monitoring and more resilient communications.
Supervisor Peskin said he will work with DT, emergency management and the fire department to lay out options and consider budget requests for 2018–19. The committee filed the item and adjourned.
