Suffolk PD works on 911 system mishap

Suffolk police began a limited restart of car-mounted computers tied to a new 911 dispatch system Thursday following the system's crash just after it launched Tuesday.

Starting before dawn, technicians updated laptop software in hundreds of patrol cars, fixing cruisers in five of Suffolk's seven police precincts by the end of day.

The laptops in about 100 cars were online in the First, Third and Fifth precincts as of 10 p.m. last night.

The launch of the new computer dispatch system got off to a bad start Tuesday when officials booted up the main dispatch computer and mobile units for the first time.

It quickly froze, forcing operators to write 911 information on cards to be carried across the room for radio dispatch. The main dispatch system was restarted that afternoon without the cruiser computers or a link to a fire-and-rescue call center, which remained down Thursday.

"We have no information that there was any significant delay of service," Deputy Chief Christopher Bergold said Thursday referring to Tuesday's events.

In the refurbished call center Thursday on the second floor of Yaphank headquarters, the First Precinct cars appeared as tiny car-shape outlines moving across a green map.

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Operator Erica Karnes' voice was calm and her cursor moved quickly as she answered a 911 call from a cellphone in North Amityville.

"Suffolk police 884, how can I assist you? OK, what is your location? Can you spell that?"

On the left screen, caller information appeared next to rows of transfer buttons. On a middle screen, Karnes clicked pull-down menus to categorize the emergency: an elderly woman with abdominal pain. On her right, a map and aerial photo showed the neighborhood where the call originated.

Bergold said the system, once fully functional, will help cut response times and help operators, dispatchers and cops know exactly where they're going and why.

Among the features he touted of the $1.9 million-system: exact locations can be generated from general descriptions like "monument in Farmingville." Alerts can be sent to multiple commands or agencies automatically. Updated databases include every address in the county, including unfinished developments.

All are vast improvements, he said, over the department's antiquated system, in use since the 1980s.

In a medical emergency or crime in progress, Bergold said, "seconds are critical."

Bergold said he believed the vendor, Intergraph Corp., is addressing the problem originating in the mobile units, and has pledged to keep employees on site until all the problems are fixed.

The system is not expected to be fully functional until next week.