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Police committee seeks second CAD administrator position; council sponsors personnel ordinance
Summary
The police committee requested a second computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) administrator to increase coverage and technical redundancy at the 24/7 dispatch center; councilmembers agreed to sponsor a personnel-ordinance amendment to create the post while managing the fiscal impact through existing vacancies.
Georgetown police and police-committee members asked the council to add a second computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) administrator position to support the 24/7 dispatch center and technical infrastructure.
Presenters described the CAD administrator role as responsible for the CAD system (computer-aided dispatch), mobile data terminals (MDTs), NetMotion VPN support, phone and radio programming, and other technical systems relied on by first responders. Staff said a single CAD administrator has carried a heavy workload and that redundancy would reduce single-point-of-failure risk, shorten downtime for critical systems and accelerate recovery from outages.
Finance and staffing approach: Police-committee members and staff proposed converting an existing supervisor position (currently vacant or expected to become vacant due to retirements) into a CAD-administrator classification so the city would not require a near-term budget amendment. Council members asked that the change be subject to next-year budget review for longer-term staffing planning.
Council action at the meeting: Councilmembers Wilkins Brent and Tingle Sames agreed to sponsor a personnel-ordinance amendment to add the position; staff will draft the ordinance for a future meeting.
Why it matters: Dispatch systems are critical for timely emergency responses and for providing officers with access to warrants, stolen-vehicle information and other investigative data. Staff told council that extended outages require manual logging of calls and can impede first-responder access to essential information.
