County will upgrade CAD, record management system at dispatch for $325K

ALBION – The 911 dispatch center for Orleans County will get a $325,000 overhaul with a new CAD/RMS system.

Sheriff Bourke

The County Legislature on Tuesday approved a contract with EM Systems Inc. of Buffalo for the computer-aided design technology and also a new record management system that will allow the village police departments and the Sheriff’s Office to have access to each other’s records while officers are in the field. The RMS allows law enforcement personnel to enter and retrieve data.

“This will create a master database of files in Orleans County,” said Sheriff Chris Bourke.

The dispatch center handles emergency calls for fire departments, police agencies, animal control and other issues.

County officials also received bids on the new CAD/RMS technology, and the other vendors bid much more than EM Systems. Bourke said one vendor sought $800,000 and the other was about $1 million.

He said it will take a year to 18 months to transfer records and get the new system fully integrated.

“We went through an exhaustive process,” Bourke said about the CAD/RMS upgrades. “We looked at demo after demo.”

A contingent from the county also spent a half day in Wyoming County to see the dispatch center with EM Systems.

The State Police used to pay for a record management system for the dispatch, but the State Police is going to a different RMS that won’t be in sync with law enforcement in smaller counties, Bourke said. The state also no longer will be providing money to the smaller counties for an RMS system.

Orleans is asking the Albion, Holley and Medina police departments to each contribute $3,000 annually towards the maintenance costs of the new system. The county is paying for the new system, but would like some assistance from the three police departments with the annual maintenance expense, Bourke said.