Officers are reporting hundreds of glitches with a new $14.5 million 911 dispatch system serving Portland and all of Multnomah County, reports The Oregonian. A month into operation, the new computer dispatch system has raised more than 400 safety concerns. Police and firefighters complain that it’s cumbersome and slow.
It also has irked municipal police chiefs, who said they were surprised to learn in January — more than a year after the contract was signed — that their agencies would have to help pay $2.5 million annually to keep the system operating. In February, the public safety agency partners who sit on a user board voted not to pay their share of the maintenance costs, setting up a showdown with the city of Portland. Supervisors say the system is losing track of officers, putting police and the public at risk.