NEWS FLASH
By Chicago Urban Daily Staff
CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— Chicago just flipped the switch on a new 911 dispatch system, and City Hall is all-in — even though aldermen and the dispatchers answering the calls say the thing isn’t ready.
The Office of Emergency Management and Communications began a phased rollout Tuesday of its new computer-aided dispatch system from CentralSquare Technologies, the city’s first major dispatch upgrade in more than 30 years. For now the old system stays live as a backup while officials “ensure Chicago’s public safety infrastructure” during the transition…
Not everyone is comfortable. Fourteen aldermen wrote to Mayor Brandon Johnson last week demanding answers before the system goes live for real. “We support modernization, but it cannot come at the expense of the safety of Chicago residents,” the letter said, citing reports of dropped calls, delayed information, missed callbacks and calls routed to the wrong department.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro, who chairs the Police and Fire Committee, said dispatchers themselves raised the red flags. The mayor’s office fired back that the system passed stress tests — including 3,800 calls in a single hour, 150% of the city’s busiest stretch — and has met its contract response-time requirements.
The price tag: a nearly $75 million deal signed back in 2019. The payoff, officials say, could be response times cut by up to 33 seconds. Dispatchers, who have logged more than 4,600 hours of classroom training, aren’t sold that seconds are worth the risk.
Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily for updates on this developing story.
Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.
