Oakland voting on possible $6 million contract to bring 'critical' software to police, 911 center

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The Oakland Police Department is one step closer to getting a huge technology upgrade that could cost taxpayers millions of dollars. It's being voted on Tuesday night.

Oakland is in dire need of new technology.

It has the slowest 911 emergency response times in the state, according to data analyzed by the ABC7 News I-Team in June.

MORE: Some Oakland residents are waiting 20 minutes or longer to reach 911 operators, I-Team finds

"We need all the help we can get," said Oakland City Councilmember Noel Gallo.

Years before Oakland was crippled by a ransomware hack that leaked the city's network on the dark web, a crucial decision on an IT investment was made in 2017.

Oakland City Council authorized $12.8 million to install a new 911 public safety IT system that included a new dispatch and records management software from Motorola.

Three years later, a civil grand jury report found it was never fully implemented.

The report concluded that both the software and the hardware at the Emergency Communications Center were labeled as "so out of date" none of it was even supportable. OPD was reportedly even forced to buy replacement parts on eBay because they were no longer available.

MORE: Did Oakland have right cyber insurance before the ransomware hack? Expert weighs in

"It is completely unacceptable, unexplainable," said Gallo. "Certainly, we need to hold ourselves as governmental employees more accountable."

Staffing shortages and impacts from the pandemic were to blame.

Now it's been seven years, and the problem still hasn't been fixed. But this week, there's a push to change that.

Oakland's IT department is recommending the city enter into an agreement with a technology company that would replace OPD's record management system with a modern cloud-hosted software called "Mark43."

"I would assume they're advocating for utilization of cloud because it probably can be accessed by more locations," said prof. Nolan Higdon, a Cal State East Bay professor of History and Communication.

MORE: OPD risks losing state funding if city's 911 response times do not improve

If passed, it would cost taxpayers up to $6.1 million.

The city says it's being heavily vetted in the wake of the massive 2023 data leak and impacts from last week's global computer outage prompted from CrowdStrike's defective system update.

"The idea that any of these records are secure is naïve," said prof. Higdon. "We see these data breaches consistently in organizations, corporations, and governments daily... it's really put the population at a much more vulnerable place."

According to a report obtained by the I-Team, last year OPD determined the Motorola software was "difficult to use" leading to "increased report times" and the issues "were unable to be resolved."

The issues documented in the grand jury report could've been avoided if the technology was properly vetted prior to the multi-million-dollar purchase. The I-Team asked OPD if it was determined this new Mark43 software would be compatible with their systems.

MORE: FBI investigation in Oakland expands to its police department

We received the following statement on behalf of the department, "The software was reviewed by several department subject matter experts to gauge efficacy. OPD also visited a local law enforcement department who is currently using Mark43 to obtain their feedback, which was positive."

OPD may also acquire a new $27,000 subscription with "Gladiator Forensics" to collect and analyze call record data. Police say it would help arrest wanted suspects and enhance criminal investigations. This includes location mapping, phone number analysis, and frequency reports - that detect how often a phone number communicates with a suspect.

"Anything that is listed as smart, means it's surveilling you. Your smart TV, your smart car, your smart vacuum all are collecting data - and the companies that get that data often have agreements with other companies to share data," said Higdon. "So, there's a lot of ways this information can get into the hands of law enforcement legally."

State privacy law would still require OPD to have a warrant to access this data.

Ultimately, taxpayers don't want the failed $12 million technology purchase to happen again with this potential new contract.

We'll be tracking the final vote expected Tuesday night.