CITY 911 GEAR TO BE FIXED; PAC BELL TO REPLACE FAULTY CALL SWITCHER.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

LAPD officials said Monday that Pacific Bell will replace a $1 million phone switcher that was blamed for a 90-minute breakdown in the 911 emergency system last week.

Repairs have been to fix the current ``call distributor,'' but the decision was made to replace the 11-year-old system using state taxes collected to pay for 911 systems, according to LAPD Cmdr. Carlo Cudio.

``There's a new call distributor that is going to be put into place,'' Cudio said. ``It should help.''

Pacific Bell will replace the equipment that connects the LAPD's central dispatch system to the 911 network. It malfunctioned Dec. 30, preventing calls from getting to the dispatch center for an hour and a half.

Cudio told the council's Public Safety Committee on Monday that a backup system to divert 911 calls to the city's 18 police stations worked in all but the Central and 77th Street police divisions, where repairs were immediately begun.

Cudio said he believes emergency calls were answered during the breakdown. Officials said there were about 260 emergency calls that required response during the breakdown.

Councilwoman Laura Chick, who chairs the safety committee, said she wants to make sure there is not another repeat and that repairs are made to the backup systems.

In a separate matter, the council's Public Safety Committee refused for a second time Monday to approve a $51 million contract with Motorola for installation of a new police radio system because of concerns about delays and possible cost increases in a computer contract with the firm.

The council panel delayed action for three weeks to allow LAPD officials to negotiate with Motorola to resolve concerns about work on an existing $21 million city contract to upgrade the LAPD's mobile digital terminal system.