KTRK-13 is reporting on another problem related to the Houston Emergency Center mess. Here’s the description of the problem:
What happens is this — when a call comes into Houston’s emergency operation center, the information is sent out to HPD’s central booking facility. From there a dispatcher switches it into the officer’s mobile data terminal, or MDT. Problem is, when the MDT crashes, the dispatcher has no way of tracking the officer or uploading information from the field.
And here is an example of the problem:
Alone and frustrated, our cameras caught up with Officer Gutierrez moments after the man she stopped to question ran away. The car he was in turned out to be stolen.
She said, “I’m not going to run after the guy. I didn’t have any help and our computer system is down. I don’t run after people if I don’t have no help.”
Angry at more than how the situation ended, Gutierrez says what concerns her most is why she didn’t get the help she needed.
“I had earlier asked if a unit was available,” Officer Gutierrez explained. “But there’s not, there’s only two people out here right now. When he started running, I said, ‘I ain’t chasing after him.’ I have no help and she don’t know where I’m at.”
“She” is the dispatcher. The computer system that lets the dispatcher see the officer’s location and the location of other units in the area wasn’t working Wednesday morning due to a switching problem.
Here’s the official HPD reaction:
Chief Hurtt hadn’t heard about Wednesday morning’s incident, but admits what happened to Officer Gutierrez is the symptom of a much larger problem. It’s one he says is being dealt with right now.
“We’ve already hired a third party to come in and review the system and process and give us an insight as to what our next step should be,” said Chief Hurtt.
A department spokesperson says the administration is investigating what happened to Officer Gutierrez.
The one area that’s been a cause for concern is the Houston emergency center. Ever since it opened last year, the center has been plagued with computer failures and complaints from dispatchers. The $53 million system was designed to improve emergency response time and consolidate the city’s fire and police dispatchers but it’s only created more problems. An outside firm is looking into the problems. A full report is expected within three months.
$53 million? Oh my. I don’t think I had seen the HEC price tag before.
Chief Hurtt and Mayor White should have been dealing with this issue long before now — and not just by hiring an outside consulting firm to examine the problems. At the top of any mayor’s priority list should be public safety, not a grand new park.
