Overview
- An internal memo from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications told staff that “Go‑Live for Sept. 22nd has been postponed” and that cancelled days off were reinstated, marking an immediate pause in the public launch.
- City officials say the new Computer‑Aided Dispatch (CAD) platform completed stress tests that simulated 150% of the busiest hour and that staff logged more than 4,600 classroom training hours during development.
- Frontline dispatchers and at least 14 alderpersons reported concrete operational problems in recent days, citing dropped calls, failed callbacks and delayed responses and asking the mayor for formal public safety assurances before any full switch.
- No official new public rollout date has been announced; unnamed OEMC sources have suggested a possible November target while the city keeps the old 30‑year system active as a live fallback.
- The CAD project is a roughly $75 million, six‑year effort to modernize a decades‑old system and unify Police, Fire and other city services, and the postponement has prompted aldermanic requests for briefings and potential hearings as officials balance technical readiness with public‑safety risk.