Stanislaus County’s New 911 Dispatch System Draws Criticism Over Early Glitches

(TNS) — A new computer-assisted 911 dispatch system for Stanislaus County has generated controversy. And it’s not surprising to hear complaints about bugs and early issues since it was launched in January.

Thursday, the commission over the Stanislaus Regional 911 dispatch center listened to complaints from members of the Sheriff’s Office, which has vocally opposed a decision to implement the CentralSquare CAD.

The early issues have included patrol deputies not being informed about stolen vehicles. Also, a function that tracks the location of law enforcement units freezes up, providing the wrong location of personnel. And units are not told when an emergency call comes from a home in a gated community.

“I can’t get into a gated community because it’s not on the CAD,” said Deputy Randon Kirkbride, who’s a leader of the sworn deputies union.

Kirkbride told the SR911 commission that on one occasion, the locator technology indicated he was at Modesto Reservoir but “I was in Riverbank.” Such flaws are a safety risk for himself and co-workers, he said.

The Stanislaus Regional 911 commission, made up of representatives of Modesto and the county, chose CentralSquare in June 2024 to replace an antiquated dispatch system serving the Modesto Police Department, the Sheriff’s Office and fire departments. The new CAD was activated Jan. 21.

Sheriff Jeff Dirkse has pushed hard for a system developed with Oracle Corp. with records and jail management capabilities. He has claimed it would cost the county nothing for the first five years. His disputes with county government leaders and SR911 were detailed in a critical report last year by the civil grand jury.

Thursday’s commission meeting was the first since the CentralSquare CAD went live. None of the reviews aired at the meeting reported that residents or public safety personnel were harmed by malfunctions or shortcomings.

Dirkse said the issues thus far were the same problems identified when Sheriff’s Office officials spoke with other police agencies about the widely used CAD system. The sheriff said he could show multiple emails raising concerns that SR911 staff did not answer for days.

Kasey Young, executive director of the dispatch agency, responded that some issues are normally expected with the implementation of a new platform. She said it’s accurate to state there are outstanding issues, but it’s common to have an implementation period to resolve bugs and configuration gaps.

Young mentioned a number of ways SR911 has offered to assist the Sheriff’s Office and address concerns. She said technical staff limitations impacted how quickly problems could be resolved.

Young cited a pattern of the Sheriff’s Office raising concerns late in the evening or at other times that would delay a response.

The four-member commission did not discuss the issues. The CAD system was not on the agenda. The Sheriff’s Office complaints were aired during a time for public comment.

County leaders reached a compromise last year to possibly operate both the CentralSquare and Oracle CADs at the same dispatch center. But first, the Sheriff’s Office would be taken off the old technology and connected to CentralSquare. The plan includes an interface to bridge the two systems in order to prevent time-consuming call transfers for certain emergencies.

After Thursday’s meeting, Dirkse didn’t have a date for installing the Oracle system. “We’ll see,” he said.

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