ALARMS SOUNDED OVER 911; PROBE ORDERED INTO BREAKDOWN.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

City officials launched an investigation of Los Angeles' 911 emergency communication system Wednesday after a telephone company glitch caused the system to break down for the second time in two months.

A Pacific Bell electrical component that connects the Los Angeles Police Department's central dispatch system to the 911 network is being blamed for the Tuesday shutdown, which began at 7 p.m. and ended shortly before 9 p.m., officials said.

A backup system immediately kicked in, allowing 911 calls to be forwarded directly to the city's police stations. The shutdown raised concerns, however, about the reliability of the aging 911 system as the city prepares to break ground this year on new dispatch centers.

``We are requiring Pacific Bell to be in the 911 center 24 hours a day through Monday to make sure there is no repeat of the problem,'' said Stephanie Bradfield, an assistant to Mayor Richard Riordan. ``By Monday, the mayor wants a complete report on what happened.''

Councilwoman Laura Chick, who chairs the City Council's Public Safety Committee, also asked that police, fire and Pacific Bell officials report to her committee Monday.

``In light of the concerns about recent failures in the city's 911 system, it is important that the committee be fully briefed on the failure and any changes that need to be implemented to ensure that this type of breakdown doesn't occur again,'' Chick said.

Pacific Bell officials acknowledged the failure of a switch within an electrical component that connects the LAPD's Central Dispatch Center to the 911 network and said company technicians are monitoring and testing the system.

``While the backup plan worked well, ensuring the integrity of the 911 system is foremost for Pacific Bell,'' said spokesman Steve Getzug.

The decade-old 911 system has been facing increasing problems over the years. In November, the LAPD's radios failed, causing a blackout for voice communications between police patrol cars and the 911 dispatch center.

Officers were able to stay in contact with the dispatch center, however, through their mobile computer terminals. That breakdown was blamed on problems with a battery-charging system.

An estimated 180,000 calls went unanswered in Los Angeles in 1996, according to a recent city audit.

In 1992, voters approved a $235 million bond issue to build new emergency dispatch centers - one in Canoga Park and one in downtown Los Angeles - after the LAPD warned the public that the system is in dire need of revamping.

The plan was to have the new centers up and running by 2000, but the project has faced repeated delays. Now, groundbreaking is not scheduled until late this year with the facilities to be opened in 2002.

During the breakdown Tuesday, police depended on a backup system to reroute 911 calls directly to police stations, bypassing the dispatch center. Officials said they handled 140 calls before the system came back on line about 8:40 p.m.

Those needing assistance from the city's Fire Department were able to call their local fire stations directly or get help through telephone operators. Fire officials also immediately put all their trucks and helicopters on patrol to try to spot any problems. None was seen.

``Fortunately there were no emergencies, and we were able to test our backup system,'' said LAPD Capt. Michael Downing. ``While it worked well, we are looking at what happened to see where we can make improvements.'' He said there were similar problems in 1989.

Assistant Fire Chief John Callahan voiced similar sentiments and said the city department may work with its county counterpart to develop its own backup system.

``If this does occur again, we want to refine our procedures to best protect the public,'' Callahan said. ``In some ways, we've come to rely so much on the 911 system that we forget that people can call an operator or the fire station directly to report a problem. We think it's good to have all those options.''

One concern that Callahan and other officials voiced was the continuing problem of people calling 911 with non-emergency calls as well as those who tested the system Tuesday night after hearing of problems.

The recent city audit showed 85 percent of the 3.6 million calls flooding the 911 system last year were not emergencies at all.

``We got a lot of people calling and hanging up,'' Callahan said. ``And the problem went beyond the city limits, where people who don't know their boundaries called up and overloaded other systems.''

City officials are studying creation of a 311 system that would allow people to contact the police and fire departments for non-emergency situations.