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Council approves police IT split and managed services after cybersecurity concerns
Summary
The council unanimously approved three APD IT resolutions to move the police department to its own network, adopt a new phone system, and hire managed security services following a county IT breach. Funding of about $69,000 for the network and ~$12,000 for phones was approved; managed services replace a planned city IT hire.
The Austin City Council on a unanimous vote approved a three-part information-technology package for the Austin Police Department intended to separate police systems from county infrastructure and strengthen cybersecurity.
Police Chief Keith McKeon told the council staff had selected a vendor and proposed three actions: move APD to an internal network using $69,052 from the general fund balance, adopt a new phone system (about $12,000), and retain managed security and co-lasso management services that provide ongoing monitoring and on-site support. "This summer Mower had a bad actor enter their IT infrastructure," McKeon said, arguing that separation would provide redundancy and reduce the risk that a single breach would cripple both county and city operations. "If a bad actor got into one, you're not necessarily getting into the other." He added that managed services offer round-the-clock monitoring and expertise beyond what a single city hire could provide.
City staff said they evaluated three vendors and recommended Pantheon out of Waseca for its CJIS/MNGS experience. Craig, a city staff presenter, said the evaluation weighed effectiveness and cost, and noted the managed-services package is comparable to the budgeted amount for a single IT hire. "We exhausted alternatives to evaluate the managed services to see what would be the most competitive option," he said.
Council members pressed about on-site support for hardware and whether the phone system needed to be separate from the city's new system. Chief McKeon said the vendor contract includes remote and on-site support and that the phone architecture would retain dedicated direct lines for key officers while routing general traffic through a tree that prioritizes emergency calls.
The council approved the internal network resolution, the phone system resolution and the co-lasso/managed services resolution by voice vote, each recorded as passing 6-0. The measures fund the network from reserves and use the managed-services approach in place of hiring a single in-house IT staff member; staff said the package offers continuous monitoring, policy support and CJIS compliance assistance.
The next step is vendor contract finalization and implementation planning; staff indicated a transition timeline tied in part to necessary state CJIS approvals.
