Chicago 911 Center Update

From ENNFAX Daily Internet Report-11/12/95

UPDATE ON THE CHICAGO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER...

By Steve Macko

In our continuing report on the new $217 million Chicago 911 Communications Center that is located at 1411 West Madison Street on the City's West Side, some glitches have been found in the computer system of what is being called the nation's most sophisticated emergency communications system. This new center is replacing the more than 30-year old communication system at Chicago Police Headquarters, located at 1121 South State Street, where police dispatchers still keep track of the 911 calls and the squad cars on the street with handwritten cards and sit in front of blinking maps. The new center is highly computerized and has what is described as state-of-the-art software that is so detailed it has information about every street and building in the City of Chicago.

The police department is slowly bringing districts on-line at the new center. Currently, eight districts -- 16,17,19,20,23, and 24 are being dispatched out of the new center. Districts 13 and 14 have recently been added to the list. Officials at the center say that they hope to have all 25 police districts dispatched from Madison Street by the first of the year. The computerized system will be supplemented by a more sophisticated mobile computers by the end of 1996. The mobile computer system will allow patrol officers on the street to retrieve basic information without verbally interacting with dispatchers and will help in the time-consuming task of writing out reports.

However, there have been some problems, bugs and glitches found in the system. Harold Kunz is the trustee who oversees the Fraternal Order of Police safety committee. He has said that he has received numerous complaints from members of his union about the new system and has asked Chicago to delay putting more districts on-line until the problems can be fixed. Kunz said, "The physical plant is beautiful. The theory behind it is good. Their ability to put it to practical use is something else. I think that the department is more worried about getting this city up and running by the time of the Democratic National Convention, so that it's a showpiece more than anything else."

The problems and the complaints come as no surprise to the people implementing the system. Some problems have to be expected when installing a brand new computer system. In reality, no comparison, but in the past week -- the Emergency Response and Research Institute had significantly upgraded its computer system that allows "real time" internet e-mail, along with other enhancements, and we encountered a few glitches and computer bugs. This is to be expected. But in Chicago, the example comparison can be made that the experience is like going from a typewriter to a personal computer. What may complicate the situation, a little bit, is that police officers are generally suspicious by nature and are historically slow to embrace change or something new.

Admittingly, some of the snafus that have been encountered with the new 911 system have had the potential to be deadly. Just three days after the new center went on-line, on September 26th, a glitch in the telephone system caused the entire system and its backup ... to crash. That happened on a Friday evening, at the busiest shift time of day for the police department. For two-and-a-half hours, residents in the 16th and 17th Police Districts, on Chicago's far Northwest Side got nothing but silence if they called 911. One police communications supervisor said, "If you tried to call 911 during that time, you got nobody." Supervisors in the 16th and 17th districts ordered their squad cars to put their flashing lights on and drive slowly through neighborhoods to help residents contact authorities should they need help.

Some officers were very upset over that incident. Some say that there has been some repetitive problems, such as constant busy signals for callers of 911. Many officers say that the city is moving too quickly on the project. One officer from the 17th Police District said, "Some of this stuff should have been worked out before they started using us as guinea pigs."

Another major complaint of patrol officers is that they are being dispatched in what they call a "willy-nilly" fashion. Many times they are being dispatched to an incident from the opposite end of their district and even on some occassions -- outside of their district boundaries. Officials at the new 911 center said that this is happening because there was some inaccurate geographic information programmed into the computer software.

The project coordinator for the new system, William Corbett, said that the problems encountered have been minor and would be rectified in the coming months. Corbett said, "There has to be tolerance. We have the next generation. Every part of it is evolutionary ... we don't progress day-by-day. We get better by the hour." Corbett said that it would probably take a good six months to iron out some of the bugs. Again, according to some experts, that is to be expected. However, these same experts wonder if the city has the right type of people who will be able to understand the new system and be able to work it. Answers to questions about proper training on this new "evolutionary" system have not been totally answered.

There have been a number of documented problems with the new system, but the city has refused to furnish a detailed list of them. One bad incident happened on October 23rd at 1130 CDT in the 4200 block of North Keeler Avenue in the 17th Police District -- a man witnessed a burglar kicking in the front door of a neighbor's house. The witness attempted to contact the police by calling 911. He could not get through after repeated attempts. The witness, a retiree, was able to contact the police by directly calling the 17th District police station. Officers, there, tried to call 911 but could not get through. By the time the police were notified, the burglar was long gone.

Corbett replied to being questioned about that incident as knowing nothing about it, but would look into it. He reiterated that most of the problems have been minor and not life-threatening. He said that the dispatchers at the new 911 center are answering phone calls faster than at the old communications center. He said that during the month of October, the new center answered 90 percent of the phone calls to 911 in 12 seconds or less. That is compared to a percentage of 50 to 60 percent at the old center.

Currently, there are 61 retired police officers who are forming what is called the "core cadre" of civilian dispatchers at the new center on Madison Street. One of these retired officers firmly believes in the new system that he described as "the most comprehensive and quickest in the world." It was this dispatcher's experience that the problems so far encountered have not been severe. Luis Frazer said, "If there was nay way that it jeopardized any police officer or the public, the dispatchers would be the first to say, 'This don't work, and we should get out of it and go back to the old system.' It's sure as hell going to be better than what we have now."

That is true. Chicago needs this new emergency communications system. Something is needed at the coming of the 21st century. The core of the Chicago Fire Department's communication system is almost 100 years old. It still works ... but things will be better.

Chicago's Police Superintendent, Matt Rodriguez, says that he is appraised of the complaints and problems. He has instructed the supervisors at the old communications center to watch out for any problems that may be encountered. But Rodriguez said, and rightfully so, that the new communications center is vital to the safety of city. He said, "Nothing is ever perfect. But we do the best we can, especially when it comes to safety."