Police Phones Malfunction

Police Phones Malfunction
Heavy rain the likely culprit
Andrew Mansfield
News Correspondent

GARDNER    The phone lines at the Gardner Police Station went out early in the morning on Wednesday, likely due to the heavy rainstorm in the area.

“My best guess is that it was water-related,” said Gardner Police Chief Neil Erickson.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the issue had yet to be fixed, but Verizon trucks were sent to the Police Station’s Main Street location to work on the problem.

Mr. Erickson said he did not know when the phone lines would be corrected.

“From my perspective, this should never happen,” he said.

Mr. Erickson said the police station’s 911 service went out around 7:15 a.m. and about an hour later the business lines went down.

Throughout the day, emergency calls were redirected to the Westminster Police Station, which serves as a backup for Gardner.

“There’s a fail-safe in the 911 system if it is not answered.

We had maybe six calls today,” Mr. Erickson said.

For normal business calls, the police station relied on employees’ cell phones for communication.

The police station began operating out of its 200 Main St. location in May.

Mr. Erickson said Gardner has a signed agreement with Athol for the Gardner Police Station to serve as the regional dispatch center for both cities in the near future.