Md. County Pulls Plug on New Dispatch System

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Dec. 24--Following a request by the union representing the bulk of the county's police officers, the county will suspend its new computer-aided dispatch system -- at least temporarily.

(Anne Arundel)County Police Chief James Teare told his officers yesterday morning the department would revert to the system it used before Dec. 6 as county staff works to address problems with the newer computer software.

He said the change -- which will affect four other county agencies -- should occur Tuesday.

"A few of the new design applications are causing more distress than anticipated," Teare said in an email, explaining the remedies will take time to implement. "Unfortunately, time is a commodity first responders have little to spare."

In a separate statement yesterday, County Executive John R. Leopold estimated it would take 30 days to get the new system back on line.

The announcement came two days after more than 100 members of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 70 held an emergency meeting in Crownsville. During the meeting, some officers pushed for a no confidence vote on Teare, according to officers who attended. Instead, the membership voted unanimously to write a letter to Teare, Leopold and the seven members of the County Council asking them to turn off the new $6.6 million system.

"I think everyone is pretty happy they listened," said O'Brien Atkinson, the union president. "We can't have police officers out there with dispatchers not knowing where they are when they need help."

It was unclear yesterday how much it would cost to temporarily revert to the old system, but the county said Tiburon -- the company behind the new system -- should pay for it.

"They need to do the adjustments and corrections," said Bill Ryan, the county's director of information technology. While Tiburon works on the technical side, the county will offer additional training, he said.

Officials with Tiburon have not returned calls or emails seeking comment on the system.

The county purchased the new E-911 Computer-Aided Dispatch and Record Management System in January 2008 to replace two aging computer programs. The old record management software, which also was created by Tiburon, was antiquated and would have effectively stopped working on Jan. 1 due to a Y2K-style glitch, officials said.

Representatives of the county Office of Information Technology and the five agencies that use the computer system selected Tiburon's system from four proposals.

The system, which will cost $300,000 a year to maintain, is used by the county police and fire departments, the sheriff's and state's attorney's offices and the detention facilities. But since it was turned on, the system has been plagued by problems, several local public safety union leaders said.

Dispatchers complained that the system -- with its modern graphic interface -- is more complicated to navigate than the old, text-based system. Firefighters complained they are dispatched to calls outside their communities, but not to calls near their stations. And police officers complained that they are no longer able to review prior calls at an address before responding to an emergency.

In his letter to Teare, Atkinson said his membership was "interested in seeing this program succeed and improve our capabilities." But, he maintained the system was implemented before it was ready.

"We will continue to work with all involved parties, but feel that the system presents significant safety concerns with every second that it continues to run," Atkinson wrote. "This is without question the most significant officer safety issue that we have dealt with in my over 17 years with this police department."

For the past two weeks, the county has attempted to address the concerns without turning off the system. After further review, Teare and County Fire Chief Robert Ray recommended the county turn it off.

"We want to have the most modern communications and tracking systems available to our public safety personnel, but our priority concern is their safety when they are out in the field," Leopold said.

When the county reverts to the old computer-aided dispatch system, it will continue with the new records management system.

"I will again be asking for your continued support and patience while we develop the best possible solutions to our communication and reporting system," Teare said, commending his staff for taking the decent changes in stride. "I am truly impressed every day with what we accomplish together."