CHAFFEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Salida, Colorado

PRESS RELEASE

September 7, 2017

On September 7, 2017 Verizon suffered a loss of service in Salida extending north to Buena Vista. The loss of service happened at approximately 2pm and 911 service was unavailable at that time. I personally attempted numerous calls to 911 with my Verizon phone and at no time was I able to connect to 911, Chaffee County Communications Center nor did the calls roll over to another communications center in the region.

I have been assured numerous times by Verizon Wireless that during a loss of service redundancy has been built into the system where we would be able to at the very minimum have 911 service during such outages. This is not true and at the time of this press release, 9:46 pm, I have no access to 911 services. This ranges from Salida to as far north as Nathrop. This is unacceptable.

911 services are essential for the safety of our citizens and at no time should they be compromised. I will be in touch with Verizon management in regards to this matter as this is outrageous and must be addressed.

Thank You

Sheriff John Spezze