Chihuahuas set

Department of Public safety offices across the state, including in El Paso, have been experiencing computer problems all week.

That’s testing the patience of many waiting for services, like getting a new driver’s license.

ABC-7 first heard about the problem on Wednesdasy from an ABC-7 viewer, who was trying to renew his driver’s license, first at a DPS office with no luck, and then online.

A local DPS official told ABC-7 the issue is with the agency’s internet server in Austin.

“I came here to get my daughter’s drivers test done,” said East El Pasoan Jim Crandall, who took his daughter out of school early on Thursday to take the test. He was expecting a quick trip to the DPS office, but ended up with a painful ordeal because of computer problems.

“There’s a few frustrated people in there, but people are understanding,” Crandall said. “Computer systems are man-made so they can be broken and people live with the inconveniences. Besides, I don’t think anybody goes to the DMV expecting a rapid process to start with.”

The DPS branch located in Northwest El Paso had signs on the door stating it was closed because of computer issues. ABC-7 talked to a man outside and he said he had an appointment for a driver’s test in the morning, but was told to come back later in the afternoon.

DPS would not let ABC-7 shoot any video inside of any of their locations, however, at the DPS branch on the East Side on Scott Simpson, many people said they had been waiting for up to two hours.

“It was hard because I was here just for my lunch hour so I was waiting for more than two hours and it was kind of tough,” said Esther Villalva, who needed a new license. “They told us the system was down yesterday, so there’s a lot of people waiting right now. I’m running late to work right now.”

Gilbert Provencio stopped by the East Side DPS office to get a state I.D.

“It took us an hour,” he said. “It was pretty packed.”

An El Paso DPS spokesman said the server problems are with the content filtering, which is required to prevent security breeches. Some DPS locations, like the one in East El Paso on Scott Simpson, seemed to have the problem solved by Thursday afternoon, but others were still struggling.

A DPS spokesman did apologize for the inconvenience and said DPS hopes to have everything back to normal both online and at DPS branches by Friday.