Broward’s 911 system is about to get a major upgrade that promises to vastly improve law enforcement’s ability to respond quickly to emergencies and allow people seeking help to provide more information than ever before.
The County Commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday to approve a contract with Motorola Solutions Connectivity at a cost of up to $25 million over 10 years to replace the county’s 911 system with a “Next Generation 911” model capable of better pinpointing the locations of callers and allowing them to use their cellphones to share video in real time.
“It takes 911 communication to another level,” Broward Mayor Mark Bogen said. “This new technology will allow people to communicate with 911 by voice, by text, by video. It’s like going from dial-up to high-speed Internet.”
County staff presented the idea to the commission last year, leading to a request for proposals from businesses interested in providing the service to Broward’s 2 million residents. Motorola’s bid won the staff recommendation, and approval is on the “consent agenda” before the commission Tuesday.
The consent agenda is a list of items typically approved by the commission in bulk and without discussion.
“We discussed this already when we sent out the request for proposals,” County Commissioner Steve Geller said. “At the time we all agreed we want and need enhanced 911.”
The money to pay for the new system comes from the state’s Department of Management Services 911 fee allocations.
Bogen touted other enhancements promised by enhanced 911, including more efficient call connection (reducing the current four-second wait to one second). “It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but when you’re in an emergency, every second counts,” he said.
In addition, the new system routes incoming calls to the closest of the county’s three call centers, switching automatically to another county center if any one should become flooded with calls, and even recruiting nearby counties in the rare event all three county centers are overwhelmed.
“All of that goes a long way to making sure the people of Broward County get the help they need when they need it,” Bogen said.
The user enhancements are the ones most likely to be noticed by the public. Residents will be able to use their cellphone cameras to record what they are seeing while they call for help. In a medical emergency or crime in progress, a 911 caller may not be able or willing to speak. Video can show the 911 dispatcher what type of emergency is taking place even when the caller cannot.
Callers, not dispatchers, would be responsible for activating the cameras.
Detectives and attorneys who already routinely rely on recorded 911 calls to investigate and prosecute crimes would have the ability to add the videos when collecting evidence.
Four years ago, Broward’s 911 system came under fire for critical delays in 911 response times, with several of those delays resulting in deaths. The culprit at the time was determined to not be related to the technology but to insufficient manpower. Broward was motivated to increase funding to the Broward Sheriff’s Office by $4 million to boost pay and benefits to 911 operators who were being lured away by higher-paying jobs in neighboring jurisdictions.
Officials say the enhanced 911 system will take about 18 months to be fully implemented.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Twitter (X) @OlmedaNews.