Police officials are looking to get a head start on mandated upgrades to Chatham-Kent’s emergency 911 call centre, which will replace decades-old equipment that has been experiencing intermittent performance issues.
During a recent meeting, the Chatham-Kent Police Services Board approved recommendations to allocate $485,492 in reserve funding to purchase six new, state-of-the-art dispatch consoles for the Emergency Communications Centre (ECC), located at police headquarters in Chatham.
According to a report presented to the board, the existing consoles are over 20 years old and have exceeded their expected lifecycle periods. The consoles include components such as computer equipment, software, and data cards which have varying lifecycles of five to 15 years.
“If the equipment is performing and functioning properly and everything appears to be copacetic, then we will push those envelopes,” said Police Chief Gary Conn. “There’s generally a multitude of different variables that factor into replacement. Obviously, the lifecycle is just one. The manufacturer’s recommended lifecycle is a good guideline but it’s just that, it’s a guideline.”
The report added that emergency communications operators have been encountering intermittent issues with console performance and inconsistent functionality due to the age of the consoles and possibly failing components.
“We have had issues over the last few years,” said Conn. “Nothing that would jeopardize officer or public safety.”
However, the report stated that if the console system were to fail, it would have a “major crippling effect” on all emergency radio communications for police officers, firefighters and EMS.
“We have had those intermittent failing functionalities… we’ve always been able to resolve them,” said Conn. “We do have spare parts. We’ve got Thames Communications on standby 24/7.”
Part of the police board’s decision on Wednesday included reallocating $250,000 from the Police Fleet Reserve, which had previously been earmarked for upgrades to radio equipment in police vehicles.
The radio systems within all of the police service’s patrol vehicles have also experienced similar technical issues over the years. The 45 radios and 40 repeaters in police patrol vehicles are more than 10 years past their recommended lifecycle and have experienced chronic failure and have needed continual maintenance.
In October 2022, the police board approved the purchase of three radio/repeater packages as a “stop-gap approach” to ensure continued radio communications.
A Radio System Refresh Replacement project is currently planned to replace all of the aging vehicle radio equipment for CK police, Chatham-Kent Fire and Emergency Services and Chatham-Kent Public Works.
While the Police Services Board has approved purchasing and installing the new 911 consoles at the ECC, the decision will need final approval from municipal council.
“The system that we have is beyond its lifecycle and is due for repair and is one of the reasons we are pushing to get this done in an expeditious manner,” said Conn. “There is a possibility of failing components and we want to be ahead of that.”
Conn will provide a report on the matter to council during a meeting on May 8. If approved, he said the new consoles will likely be installed sometime in the final quarter of 2023.
The new state-of-the-art consoles will align with a current mandate from the Canadian Radio and Television Commission that all emergency communications must be updated to new “Next Generation 911” digital systems that will replace outdated analog systems currently in use. Those updates must be completed by March 2025.
The mandate also stipulates that Chatham-Kent must have a fully equipped backup system in the event of an emergency. A secondary Emergency Communications Centre is currently under construction, with completion expected before the end of 2023.