This legislation, dubbed the “911 Accountability Act,” aims to increase transparency and accountability within the Office of Unified Communications. The legislation comes in response to a series of high-profile incidents involving the Office of Unified Communications, including a recent incident where a 911 call was not routed to the appropriate police station, leading to a delay in response time and potentially endangering a life. This incident, along with others, has raised concerns about the effectiveness and reliability of the 911 system in the District of Columbia.

This incident highlights the critical importance of reliable and resilient infrastructure for public safety and emergency response. The city’s 911 call center, a vital component of its emergency response system, experienced a significant outage, leading to a delay in providing critical care to a child in cardiac arrest. This incident underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to unforeseen events and the potential consequences of such failures. The city’s 911 call center outage, which occurred on August 2, 2023, is a stark reminder of the importance of robust infrastructure for public safety.

The bill, introduced by Representative Pinto, aims to increase transparency and accountability in the OUC’s emergency response. It seeks to address concerns about the utility’s handling of the recent power outages and subsequent emergency response. The bill would require the release of documents related to potential errors or concerns, including CD 1 forms completed by FEMS, and audio recordings of 911 calls related to the outages.