Agenda Packets - 1999/02/01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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war-m-ar ar:irmmmiwairmiwmar---ir-W-M-Mrariff-arl 2000 problem will affect your city or county. Two of the broadest,but closest to home for local elected offi- cials,are public safety and health and the local economy. Local governments are directly responsible for the former and play an important role in the latter. Today's criminal justice system--from the police to the courts--is heavily dependent on electronic technology. Police departments use microwave communications systems,criminal records systems,offender information (including fingerprint identification)systems, computers,and telecommunications equipment in police vehicles. All are vulnerable. In the courts, systems for tracking pardons and paroles,scheduling court action, and documenting evidence are vulnerable,along with the normal data processing systems. Corrections records are vulnerable, as are the electronic systems that provide security and environmental control in police stations,courthouses,and prisons. Emergency response systems are vulnerable through their reliance on telecommunications and data pro- cessing,of course,but they also have a less widely known problem related to the global positioning system (GPS)used to keep track of the whereabouts of police,fire,and other emergency vehicles. The GPS system may fail in August 1999 because of a date-related processing problem of its own. Transportation control systems for streets,highways,mass transit systems,and railroads,to say nothing of air traffic control systems,are another vulnerable area. Traffic lights,freeway on-ramp controls,traffic monitoring, and rail switching systems are all based on chips that could fail entirely or become dangerously confused. Utilities are particularly vulnerable. Water and waste treatment systems are controlled by automated systems that rely on computers and by flow control devices that rely on chips;problems with hardware,software,or chips could lead to system shutdown,or groundwater contamination. Power companies use computer systems to control operations and manage the distribution of power. Y2K problems with the hardware and software could lead to system failures. And of course,like any business,they depend heavily on computers for billing, personnel, payroll,and other general operations. Effect on the Local Economy Any local business could have Y2K problems;many of them will. In many cases the effects on one business or organization could cascade throughout an entire community. Banks,credit unions,and other financial institutions might not be able to record the date of deposits and withdrawals or correctly calculate interest on loans or savings accounts. Payrolls could be hopelessly snafued if human resources departments could not calculate wages and salaries,withholding,vacation time,and the like. Accounting departments would be unable to process accounts payable and accounts receivable. Inventory would become unmanageable. Local telephone systems could shut down because their chip-driven switches went into some kind of silicon limbo,their billing procedures could be confused,and automated voice mail systems could handle calls incorrectly. The infrastructure of computers in communities is such that each depends on the operation of others. If Y2K cities and counties are concerned only with fixing their own computers,they need to begin taking a proac- YOU -3- [Er V&A