City Takes New Approach to Reforming 911 System
The city is taking a different tack in its overhaul of the 911 system.
The Daily News reports, under a revised plan, reforms to the system will be controlled by one official. Additionally, the city will sharply reduce the number of outside consultants it hires.
This is the first in what is likely to be a series of changes to the city's 911 system. The city will break up the project into smaller, more manageable pieces. Information Technology and Telecommunications Commissioner Anne Roest will be the city's point person going ahead.
According to the Daily News, separate reports by City Comptroller Scott Stringer and the Department of Investigation found additional management problems with the current system.
"Contractors and middlemen were marking up the prices of their subcontractors, and basically bilking money without the city exercising sufficient control over expenditures," says the Daily News' Juan Gonzalez, who first reported the story. He added the Department of Investigation is recommending that all future projects of this size should have an independent integrity monitor to prevent fraud.
In a series of reports in May, WNYCÂ detailed problems with the city's 911 dispatch system known as Unified Call Taking.
WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations
