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Home My WebLink AboutIR 8380 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8380 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 4, 2002 W DtX0__ Subject: Computer-Aided Dispatch Project Status Report Issue: Technology improvements and strong recommendations by the Justex study team have caused the CAD Policy Team to reassess its strategy in implementing the next critical phase of the CAD Project. To date the Council has authorized $18.3 million for the three phases of the project as originally defined. The phases include the implementation of the mobile data computers (IVIDC's) in police and fire vehicles which is nearly complete; implementation of the CAD software (version 6.3) and hardware; and the Automated Reporting System (ARS — version 6.3). At the time the project began, the best available solution was selected. However, since this decision was made, other options have become available. It is the position of the CAD Policy Team that the City is at a critical juncture in this project and it is wise to pause and consider alternatives that will have service and financial impact for the lifespan of the new CAD system. Over the course of this project, the software vendor (Tiburon) has been upgrading its existing line of software and adding new products in the public safety arena (i.e., jail management, court management, evidence tracking, identification management, warrant management and personnel management). A number of areas that will be recommended for enhancement by the Justex study are now supported by Tiburon' software solutions. These solutions will allow the data-driven management of the department that is so strongly encouraged by the Justex team. The CAD Project Team's biggest concern is the fact that connecting dissimilar software products from a variety of vendors and making them work together is very costly and inefficient. This problem can be avoided with newer products now offered by Tiburon that allow greater integration with software applications within the City and with other agencies. Implementation of the latest software with minimal customizations will have positive long-term cost implications for the organization in terms of maintenance, upgrades, training, operational changes, and personnel. Solution: The CAD Policy Team is recommending the following changes to the plan with a more detailed explanation of each point below. • Implement CAD 7.0 instead of CAD 6.3 and ARS 6.3. • Accept Motorola's offer to release the City from its ARS implementation obligation, and proceed with version 7.0 of ARS with Tiburon as a separately negotiated contract. ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8380 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 4, 2002 F Page 2 of 3 Subject: Computer-Aided Dispatch Project Status Report • Postpone the implementation of the ARS until the Crime Control and Prevention District technology priorities can be reviewed and funding identified. • Eliminate the Gartner Group contract extension to free $175,000 for this purpose. Motorola has offered the upgrade from CAD 6.3 to CAD 7.0 at a cost of $675,000. In addition, Motorola has agreed to waive the City's obligation of $500,000 for ARS, allowing the City to postpone this part of the project and negotiate directly with Tiburon for future implementation. Tiburon has committed to providing this product at the same cost of $500,000 when the City is ready to move forward. This change will allow the City to apply $500,000 already appropriated to fund most of the CAD upgrade right now. To determine a funding plan for the remaining $175,000 cost that is in the best interest of the City, the CAD Project Team has carefully weighed the currently funded items appropriated in the CAD Project. The item that is most expendable is the $175,000 allocated for the Gartner Group contract extension. Although it would be a valuable component to the project, there is no question that the software upgrade has far more long-term value and is the priority. The end result is that the highest priority of installing the latest version of CAD will be accomplished. Then, staff will establish a priority list of technology projects currently funded or previously planned for FY2003 to make room for the implementation of the ARS as a separate project. Examples of planned technology items include a mug shot system, a records management consultant, and magnetic stripe readers. City staff will include these adjustments to the technology plan in the April presentation of the FY2003 budget. Project Implications: Adopting this change to version 7;0 would delay CAD implementation from early- April to July 2002. While a delay is distasteful for all concerned, it is the team's considered opinion that making these strategic changes are in the City's best interest, will reduce the system's total cost of ownership over time, will create a solid technology foundation upon which to build strategic processes in the future and will position the City to move forward toward its stated goals. The Justex team strongly supports this change to allow data-driven management of the police department's resources (see accompanying memo). With your concurrence, the team will proceed with this alternative plan. The CAD T Project Team is mindful of the Council's direction to keep this project within budget. Therefore, this will not require an appropriation of additional funds at this ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8380 4, To the Mayor and Members of the City Council February 4, 2002 F"' Page 3 of 3 xv # Subject: Computer-Aided Dispatch Project Status Report time since the highest needs are being reprioritized. Rather, a change order will be submitted for Council approval to pay an additional $175,000 to Motorola. Finally, the CCPD Board will be advised of the changing scope of the funds already appropriated in the CAD Project. The CAD Policy Team will continue to update the City Council as new information is available. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me; Randy Ely, Deputy Chief at (817) 877-8289; or Dave Miller, IT Solutions Director at (817) 871-8781. (" Q . Q AA.Ag Gary W. Jackson City Manager Attachment: Justex correspondence ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS U'SPT . X P.O. BOX 6224 � ]] sy, stems Inc . (936} 291<?981 • f (936) 294-0984 1 1111 IN Illinois Office: P.O. Box 2661 12/05/01 Springfield, IL 62708-2661 (217) 241-9490 Randy Ely, Deputy Chief Fort Worth Police Department 350 W. Belknap St. Fort Worth, Texas 76102-2004 Dear Randy, Pursuant to our earlier conversations, this letter is to affirm the support of Justex Systems for the purchase of fully compatible versions of the Computer Assisted Dispatch and Records Management System software modules from Tiburon. My understanding of the situation is that: • Version 6.3 of the CAD software requires customized programming to transfer data to Version 7.0 of the RMS. • You had initially purchased Version 6.3 of the CAD, and included a request for customized programming to transfer data to your existing RMS. (At the time of the decision that was the only option available to the FWPD, and was a good decision.) • Subsequent to this decision, Justex Systems recommended purchase of the Tiburon RMS package. However, Version 6.3 of the CAD does not transfer data to Version 7.0 of the Tiburon RMS without customized programming. • That without Version 7.0 of the CAD, future version upgrades will require additional customized programming for data transfer to the Tiburon RMS. • That with Version 7.0 of the CAD such customized programming will not be required, and that Tiburon guarantees compatibility for data transfer for all future versions subsequent to 7.0. • However, making the change from Version 6.3 of the CAD to 7.0 will cause a three- month delay, from April to July, in initiation of the system, as well as additional cost. First of all, the importance of ease in data transfer between your two primary information system modules cannot be overstated. The issue transcends human resource effort recovery - saving some keystrokes on incident report entry by transferring date, time, location, complainant name, address, etc. from the CAD. Data transfer helps assure records accuracy, particularly linkage between CAD system activity (calls and officers assigned) and subsequent incident (offense) reports entered into the RMS. My own www.ju.tex.corn 2 experience in police information systems management is that accurate linkage is more important than the resource issue. Second, I would avoid if at all possible customized programming of any kind. It is expensive. Moreover, it is notoriously the source of system bugs. By definition customized programming has not been widely tested. Further, there are frequently unforeseen effects on core system transactions. The cause of the core system problem is frequently not immediately evident. Hence, it is time consuming and expensive to debug. That is, the software bug problem with such programming is not merely clearly evident problems within the customized programming relevant to data transfer, but "hidden" secondary and often elusive effects as well. Third, we .want to emphasize the importance Justex Systems is attaching in our recommendations flowing from the Operations Analysis to data driven management. Fort Worth police managers should have strategic information presented in graphical form (charts and maps) that represents ongoing criminal activities and personnel performance trends. Analyzed data may be used for staffing, deployment, and evaluation of field personnel. Investigators may use the same data in a tactical manner for tracking criminal activity under investigation. We noted in a report submitted earlier that the FWPD should implement ..........an information management system that supports "deployment by analysis". Deployment by analysis means instant "redeployment" of resources based upon incident pattern and trend information. The system should also provide officers, particularly NPO and CRT officers, the ability to identify the addresses generating the most calls for service or criminal incidents. An officer may retrieve that data either by the jurisdiction as a whole, a NPD district, or his/her particular beat. Further, the most frequent calls/incidents should be available either in aggregate form (i.e., the most frequent addresses for all calls for service), or by call or crime type, e.g., the most frequent addresses for gas station drive-offs. A fully compatible CAD and RMS is a critical element of such a system. Thus, I recommend strongly that you tolerate the three-month CAD imp lementation.delay in order to install fully compatible CAD and RMS versions. I know quite well that there is frustration with the delays that have already occurred, and this will not be greeted well. However, downstream if you implement in April, but with incompatible versions, it will eventually be a very expensive three months of operation between April and July. Sincerely, T. Ho ver, Ph.D. Principal