June 14--The Boston Firefighters Union is sending its own fact-finding team to New York City to investigate the problem-prone 911 system that is slated to be installed in the Hub this fall.
The Herald first reported yesterday Boston officials are wary of the new system in light of the Big Apple's woes.
"When they come back, if things don't look right, especially if it looks like this will be a threat to the citizens of Boston, we're going to have a public safety hearing on it," said Firefighter Richard Paris, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718. "If this doesn't work, why should we put the safety of the citizens and the safety of the firefighters at risk?"
In 2011, the Hub signed a $15 million contract with Alabama-based Intergraph to replaced the city's 911 dispatch system. The project is supposed to be completed in September, the city said. In New York City, the same system repeatedly shut down when it was switched on two weeks ago, and took four minutes to send an ambulance to an accident in which a 4-year-old girl was killed.
"I feel this system is inadequate. From what I'm hearing it's not ready to go," he said.
The city said yesterday that Intergraph representatives are coming to Boston next week to talk to city officials about what has happened in New York.
Intergraph spokeswoman Stephanie Deemer said last night she could not talk about New York or Boston specifically.
"I can tell you we're the world leader in public safety software systems," she said. "Our CAD (computer aided dispatch) has been installed in entire countries, like New Zealand, and large cities around the world."
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