Local leaders describe Milwaukee's new computer-aided dispatch system

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A major step forward. That's how aldermen - who've been working to improve how police and fire dispatchers take emergency calls - describe the city's new computer-aided dispatch system.

All of the city's emergency communications run through the building which also houses Milwaukee Police District 3, and officials say now with this update, things are even better.

"We have some excellent employees I met up there. They've being trained well," said Milwaukee Alderman Scott Spiker, District 13, who also chairs the city's Public Safety and Health Committee.

 Aldermen Scott Spiker and JoCasta Zamarripa were inside District 3 just hours before our broadcast, seeing important upgrades to a system that affects the entire city.

"This is important. We have the RNC coming to town. We have the everyday safety of Milwaukee residents and citizens to protect," said Spiker.

This photo from a year ago when CBS 58 cameras were last allowed into the city's Emergency Communication Center. 

Photo from a year ago when CBS 58 cameras were last allowed into the city's Emergency Communication Center.

"We wanted to make sure that we have a system so when people call for help, they get a response in a timely fashion," said Spiker.

"I have had concerns raised by constituents around customer service. We want to make sure when folks call and they have an emergency or a non-emergency in their lives that it's being taken seriously and professionally and they're getting the help that they need," said Alderwoman JoCasta Zamarripa, Milwaukee District 8.

The new system, the Hexagon I/CAD, ditches the smaller monitors in the room in place of larger monitors. It also allows for improved emergency response times.

"They can use GPS for the squad cars and dispatch, just based on who's closest, just automatically," said Spiker.

"So, you can get a quicker response from the officer in the sense that dispatch will pick who can come to help you the quickest," said Spiker.

Ultimately, dispatchers will be trained to answer for both police and fire, no longer having to transfer calls.

"If you have someone who can take a police or fire call, whatever it is, you save those seconds, those precious seconds, you possibly save lives," said Spiker.

Milwaukee also increased dispatchers' pay and hired several more.

We're told a large group of potential Milwaukee police and fire dispatchers, 23 of them, are right now going through the testing process and that possibly late spring, the city could be hiring even more.