Sarasota Police Phones, Internet Back Up

Update April 1, 10:10 a.m.: The Sarasota Police Department reports that its phone and Internet services are working once more. A cut fiber line in the area caused a temporary outage of service Friday morning.

Earlier:

SARASOTA, FL — The Sarasota Police Department reports that its internal phone and Internet connections are out due to a fiber line cut in the Tampa Bay area.

“We wish this was an April Fool’s joke, but it is not,” the agency reported in an email to media.

The police department’s internal phone lines and Internet service are down at this time.

Residents who need to contact the police department are asked to call 941-724-2350, 941-724-2731 or 941-724-2295. Those unable to get through may also try the non-emergency line at 941-316-1199.

The agency initially reported that its service was down due to an issue with AT&T, but sent out a correction shortly after the initial notice.

See Also:

• Frontier's Verizon Takeover: What Tampa Bay Needs To Know

"Due to a Verizon fiber line cut (NOT AT&T) in the Tampa Bay area," the correction stated.

Connecticut-based Frontier Communications assumed Verizon's Florida operations on Friday, April 1.

Meanwhile, widespread AT&T outages have been reported in the Tampa Bay area on Friday.

AT&T spokeswoman Karen McAllister said Friday morning that a local service provider issue has caused the loss of wireless service for some customers. McAllister did not elaborate on which service provider.

“Our technicians are coordinating with the local service provider to restore service as quickly as possible,” she said in a statement. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”

It is unclear how soon AT&T customers will see service restored.

Image via Shutterstock

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. April 1 to reflect a correction issued by the Sarasota Police Department.

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