Spillman is the current provider of the Computer-Aided Dispatch and Records Management Software being used by the San Angelo Police and Fire Departments. The city issued debt in the amount of $1.5 million in 2016 to pay for it. However, the software, which was heralded as much needed and state-of-the-art, instead resulted in system failures and risky situations, according to documents the city filed with the district clerk's office.
Bucky Hasty, the City's Information Technology manager, defined CAD and RMS at Tuesday's City Council meeting:
CAD is what lets the dispatchers at 911 talk to first responders, such as firefighters and police officers. It tells them where they are needed, why and when.
RMS is where all police reports are stored and the system from which SAPD pulls its crime data.
"The system went live June of 2016, and immediately had problems for us," Hasty, who was brought in to consult with the SAPD, told council. He has been working with SAPD since last fall trying to find a solution. He presented to the council the conclusion reached by him, SAPD and SAFD:
"This system will not meet our needs, it is not meeting our needs. ... We believe this puts first responders at risk as well as the public safety at risk."
In the document filed with the district clerk, the city cited a Jan. 13 incident that endangered the lives of San Angelo firefighters as an example of consequences of a faulty CAD/RMS system:
"The City received a 911 call from a man who stated that he was armed, that he planned to kill police, and that neighboring homes should be evacuated. Around the same time, the City received additional 911 calls reporting a house fire. Spillman’s CAD system — which Spillman had represented would alert call takers of potential duplicate calls based on the location of the call — did not alert City dispatchers that the duplicate calls were reporting separate incidents from the same address."
The incident occurred in the 1200 block East 21st Street. To read about it, click this link.
As a result, police arrived on the scene of the disturbance and were surprised to find the house on fire. Meanwhile, firefighters arrived on the same scene, which they thought was simply a house fire, to find an armed man threatening a shootout with the police. The firefighters crawled to the back of their engine to take cover while police dealt with the suspect.
In another instance, the document stated, the City received a 911 call about a San Angeloan in cardiac arrest. The call came from the southern part of the city, but Spillman’s AVL Mapping software incorrectly identified a unit in the northernmost part of the city as the closest available EMS unit to dispatch. Travel time from its location to the scene was 25-30 minutes. While the unit was en route, an available EMS unit in the southern part of the City learned about the emergency and “jumped the route” to arrive sooner than the unit Spillman’s system dispatched. Unfortunately, neither EMS unit arrived in time to provide effective medical treatment, the document stated.
"Such outcomes are simply unacceptable. Protecting the public is the City’s most fundamental responsibility and our highest priority," the City said in a statement about the lawsuit.
The City argues that "Spillman fraudulently misrepresented the functionality of its records management and computer-aided dispatch software and its qualifications to implement the system" in an effort to induce the City to buy its product.
In its lawsuit, the City identifies 12 misrepresentations Spillman made in its proposal to the City. The City's statement reads: "Spillman’s software lacks much of the core functionality that was promised and does not perform reliably. The company assured it would provide software solutions that do not exist. Further, it lacked the ability to correct defects in the system once it was implemented. Those defects have increased response times, created officer safety issues and jeopardized the lives of our citizens and our first-responders."
According to its statement, the City tried to find solutions to make the system work. "From the time Spillman’s system went live in June 2016 through the early part of this year, SAPD personnel and the City’s Information Technology manager worked tirelessly to try to make the Spillman system work and to convince the company to live up to its contractual obligations," it said. "The nine months the City has used Spillman software has been fraught with false promises, unresolved complaints, empty assurances and fruitless negotiations, all related to a defective product that has resulted in the loss of millions of dollars in money and in man-hours."
According to the filed document, the City sent Spillman a formal Notice of Breach on Jan. 30 and attorney Todd Harlow filed the lawsuit. Harlow, of Dallas law firm Cowles and Thompson, represented the City and the City of San Angelo Development Corp. in a recent lawsuit against Martifer-Hirschfeld.
The case has been assigned to the 51st District Court.
According to its statement, the City "will vigorously pursue a recovery of the $1.5 million in costs it incurred under the contract, as well as the $2.375 million cost our taxpayers must now pay to purchase a replacement software system. The City is also seeking punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and court costs."
©2017 the San Angelo Standard-Times (San Angelo, Texas) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
