KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Kansas City’s 911 system is getting a $1.5 million upgrade.

The Kansas City Police Board gave the department the green light to buy a new computer system to run the city’s 911 system during a meeting Tuesday.

Members of the police board unanimously approved the plan to spend more than $1.5 million on the system. The funding for the computer comes from Jackson County’s 911 e-tax fund. Members of the Jackson County Legislature approved the transfer of funds during a meeting Monday.

Funding to Replace 911 Computers

Members of the legislature’s 911 Oversight Committee said the funding couldn’t wait for other issues with the 911 system to be resolved.

“We’ve actually seen hours-long failures in the existing infrastructure that has resulted in dispatchers and others in 911 operating for the Kansas City Police Department having to manually write on cards what the emergencies are and then relay that information to officers,” Sean Smith, Jackson County Legislator, 6th Dist., said Monday.

“Right now we can pass the resolution as is or take our chance and may see this critical infrastructure fail, resulting in failure to dispatch officers to 911 calls.”

“335,000 Kansas Citians live in Jackson County. This is a 911-related sales tax that’s to fund things like this, so I think using it in a jurisdiction that’s half the county is consistent, as the legislature decided, with purposes of finding they have as well,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said Tuesday.

Kansas City Pushes Change

While the police department is now authorized to buy the new computer system, there are still questions about how to make the emergency system work for Kansas City, Missouri, and who will pay for any changes.

The police department said it continues to face staffing shortages in the 911 department. The department needs at least two dozen more dispatchers and call takers to be fully staffed.

To help with the sheer number of 911 calls the department answers, Kansas City’s Police Board asked the Mid-America Regional Council, or MARC, to add a menu to the system where callers would first select if they need police, fire, or medical help before being connected to a dispatcher.

The problem is that Kansas City’s 911 system is a regional one and includes cities on each side of the state line. The entire 911 system managed by the Mid-America Regional Council. The system is made by Motorola and the company is studying how to add a menu just for callers in Kansas City. Other metro cities don’t want the menu option.

Price of Change

During Tuesday’s Police Board Meeting, the department said Motorola determined adding a menu would cost $157,000. The price includes five years of support. After the initial five years the price switches to $14,000 a year for Motorola to provide support.

MARC said the switch could not happen before March 2024, according to the police department. There are also concerns about who shoulders the cost burden, with Kansas City residents already having paid for infrastructure and other expenses that go with the 911 system.

“I want this done quickly and I want to be sure that we have the resources we need, but he’s [Mayor Lucas] right about MARC. They really should pay for the service and they should be liable when there’s a mistake,” Cathy Dean, Police Board President, said.

Earlier this month, members of a Kansas City Council committee meeting asked the city to evaluate an independent 911 system. The evaluation is expected to last about a month. During that time the city hopes to determine if it can run its own 911 operations instead of relying on the current, regional system.