Council Questions High Cost of Inactive Police Computers

The City Council, concerned about growing costs of little-used police computer equipment, has held up about $40,000 in previously approved funds for the department.

The council also assigned two of its members to investigate police computer system costs. The $669,000 computer system was approved by the City Council in 1988, and was expected to be fully operational in less than a year.

But some of the equipment is collecting dust in a warehouse, much of the department is unable to use the equipment that has been installed, and the total costs for the system are approaching $1 million, according to city officials.

So far, the city has spent more than $642,000 on computer equipment and owes almost $200,000 for more equipment that was ordered two years ago and is sitting in a warehouse. The city also is paying a consultant $150,000 a year under a five-year contract to fix glitches in the system and help train department personnel to use the computers.

The council balked Tuesday at a Police Department plan to spend $40,000 on 10 IBM personal computers that would have been for officers to write police reports.

“We’ll look at what has been spent and how far we’ve gone,” said Councilman Gary P. McCaughan, who was named to a subcommittee to look into the computer system. “There are some hard choices we may have to make.” Mayor Diane P. Boggs also will serve on the panel.

When the equipment was purchased four years ago, all officers were to be trained to use the computer system. Many officers have received no training, and most of the terminals sit idle, computer consultant Larry Davis said. Only about 5% of the 166-member force can use the computers to access police records. Eleven of the 61 computers remain unplugged.

“They’re kind of tough to work with,” said Paul Koppes, a special enforcement team officer. “We can’t write reports, a function everyone needs. They’re one step above a typewriter.”

In April, the City Council agreed to hire CMSI, an Irvine-based computer consulting firm, to fix glitches and train department officers to use the system. The firm has a five-year contract that pays $150,000 a year.

Davis has reprogrammed the police blotter--a daily log of crimes and emergency calls. He also has shown some officers how to call up crime statistics and enter the daily schedule of assignments in the system.

But 50 computer keyboards and screens for patrol cars have remained in storage until other computer glitches can be corrected. The city has yet to take possession of the $200,000 worth of equipment, which was delivered last year and would have allowed officers to communicate with each other without being heard on the police radio, and to have access to information in local, state and federal law enforcement computers.

The two council members will study whether to continue spending money on developing the police computer system, or possibly selling some of the equipment. Downey Police Chief D. Clayton Mayes said he is not giving up hope.

“It’s imperative the department be computerized,” Mayes said. “The council has invested too much time and money to turn back now.”