The Coventry Town Council approved Resolution 25‑122 to enter an MOU with the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety and join the statewide computer‑aided dispatch (CAD) and records management system.

Police officials told the council the state conducted procurement and invested roughly $8 million to ease the cost and migration burden for municipalities. Coventry’s participation will carry a recurring cost the chief estimates at $60,000 per year; the town will initially run both the current IMC system and the statewide system concurrently while data is transferred and retained for records management.

The chief said the change will enable real‑time report sharing across departments and improve street‑level operational awareness. He estimated that doing the same work independently would cost the town far more (up to ~$200,000) and stressed the long‑term cost control provisions in the MOU (price lock and a maximum 7% annual increase after the state support period).

The council moved and approved the purchase for $182,315.67. Council members pressed for clarity on total cost of ownership (hardware, mobile terminals, IT labor) and were told the state will manage upgrades and much of the migration work; the town will still need to budget its annual service fee.

Why it matters: A statewide CAD and records platform can improve officer safety and data sharing among jurisdictions; it will also change recurring IT costs in Coventry’s public‑safety budget.

What’s next: The police department and IT staff will coordinate migration planning and present any additional hardware bids or one‑time costs in the next budget cycle.