New public safety software to be purchased

As published in the Record Journal Thursday June 27, 2013

By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
Twitter:@AndyRagz

WALLINGFORD - At the request of Police Chief Douglas Dortenzio, the town will spend nearly $600,000 for new public safety software. It will replace aging software that controls police, fire and medical dispatching as well as investigative and administrative functions, Dortenzio said.

The software will be purchased from New World Systems. The department has spent about $1 million on technology from that company over the past 15 years, Dortenzio said, and has been happy with its service. The technology works together and cannot be interfaced with software from other companies, Dortenzio said.

The Town Council approved a bid waiver Tuesday to allow the department to continue buy equipment from New World Systems. The item was added to the agenda Tuesday night by waiving a rule. Several councilors wondered why they were first being told about the bid waiver that night.

“It was an oversight that it didn’t appear on the agenda,” said Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. “They bid the hardware, but they didn’t want to bid the software because they wanted to stay with New World Systems.”

Network hardware was publicly bid last month, Dortenzio said, and the costs came to $180,431.

The bid waiver passed on a 6-3 vote, with Jason Zandri, Nick Economopoulos and Craig Fishbein dissenting.

Zandri said a newer product could bring bigger savings. Dortenzio said the software replacement is a piece of a larger system that would cost far more to replace than the $1 million invested over the last 15 years.

“You’d have to come up with four or five times the money I’m asking for tonight,” Dortenzio said to the council.

Dortenzio said he was approached by New World Systems two years ago and was asked to purchase new software. The department put off the purchase, he said, “because it makes more financial sense now.” “I don’t know that another vendor couldn’t meet our needs,” Zandri said. “There’s nothing else to compare it too.”

While Fishbein agreed that new software needed to be bought, he was upset that Dortenzio went about soliciting a draft contract with New World Systems without telling the council.

“I don’t think that’s the procedure that should be followed,” Fishbein said. “It was my understanding you come before the council first to get permission to engage.”

Dortenzio said he communicated with New World Systems for six months to develop contract language.

“When I’m hearing these things are going on, I don’t think that’s the process,” Fishbein said.

Economopoulos also weighed in, saying “I just find this not the right way of doing business.”

Dickinson supported Dortenzio’s request.

“I fully support the efforts of the department to upgrade and proceed forward in a logical and efficient way,” Dickinson said.

To his knowledge, the mayor said, the town has never put to bid software for any department. Software has always been purchased through bid waivers, he said.

“I understand the importance of this, and sometimes the importance has to be the overriding factor of what we do,” said Town Council Chairman Bob Parisi.

“It’s just too critical of a system to shop around right now,” Councilor John Sullivan said.

Town Councilors John Le-Tourneau, Tom Laffin and Vincent Cervoni also said Tuesday night that they were comfortable with the bid waiver and had faith in Dortenzio’s work.

When questioned by Sullivan Tuesday night, Dortenzio called the new software a “premier product.”

Fishbein said he doesn’t “see it as a premier product if only a handful of towns in the state use it.”

Dortenzio said Berlin, Newtown, Waterbury, East Hartford, and Cheshire have the same software. The product isn’t more widespread in the state, Dortenzio said, because not all departments provide the same level of service. A cheaper product could be purchased, he said, but it would provide only one-third of the current software’s capabilities. Since correctly dispatching emergency vehicles is important, Dortenzio said he’d rather spend more money for a better system.

The council approved transferring $120,425 left over from the regular wages account and $475,506 from the town’s surplus to the department for the new software. Zandri and Economopoulos voted against both items.

With the new system, maintenance costs will decrease, Dortenzio said. Annually, the department will pay $119,212 in maintenance under a new contract with the company, $18,000 less than the current contract, he said.

Drop-box supporters slam police chief

As published in the Record Journal on Friday March 15, 2013

By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
Twitter:@AndyRagz

WALLINGFORD – Supporters of a drop box for unused medications at the Police Department are criticizing Police Chief Douglas Dortenzio’s position that it’s up to residents to take personal responsibility and dispose of medications on their own.

A founding member of the Coalition for a Better Wallingford, Ken Welch, has advocated for the drop box as a way to counter prescription drug abuse.

Dortenzio said on Wednesday that the safest way to dispose of a medication is to put it out with the trash.

“I can’t be a substitute for responsible citizens,” he said.

Welch responded with harsh words Thursday, saying “I can’t believe this guy is a police chief.”

Welch disagreed with Dortenzio’s statement that personal responsibility is the key to disposing of unwanted prescription drugs.

“That comment blows my mind,” Welch said. “His value system is affecting his job.”

Dortenzio said Thursday that he didn’t want to get into a war of words.

“I’m not going to get into a mudslinging contest,” he said.

Dortenzio said the department supports disposal of unwanted medication, though not the drop box.

“A $1,000 trash can is a poor substitute for personal responsibility,” he said.

Welch had many criticisms of Dortenzio’s position, including the assertion that the police station lobby is too small for a drop box and would present handicapped-access issues.

The state Department of Consumer Protection, which oversees the medication drop box program, requires the box to be located in the lobby of any police station that participates. Welch said that lobby is not wheelchair accessible to begin with because there are stairs in the lobby. There is an elevator, which provides access to the lobby.

Dortenzio also said that parking would be an issue. The department’s lot is small, and people looking to drop off medications might have a hard time finding parking, Dortenzio said Wednesday.

“What, are 30 people going to show up at the same time?” Welch said.

Welch said that the only issue Dortenzio could possibly have with the medication drop box is the time police officers must take to empty and document the medication inside the box.

“Mr. Welch’s point about labor being involved is dead on,” Dortenzio said.

In a nearby town

Southington, with a population similar to Wallingford’s, adopted a medication drop box program in December. Since then, about 400 pounds of medication have been secured. Southington Police Sgt. Jeff Dobratz said that the box is typically emptied once a week.

Department of Consumer Protection procedures call for medication to be collected based on usage and that the boxes be checked weekly.

After medication is collected from the box, Dobratz said, it’s weighed, sealed and stored in the evidence room until “every so often we dispose of it.”

A case report must be filed every time the box is emptied. Dobratz said that the department has created a “generic boilerplate report,” in which the officer only has to enter the date, time and weight.

In all, the entire process of clearing out the box and filing a report takes about 15 minutes, Dobratz said.

Dortenzio said the staffing at the Police Department has shrunk significantly in the past two decades. He said having to devote staff to the medication drop box wouldn’t be wise.

“As a manager, I have to keep an eye on these things,” he said.

Dortenzio’s position also came under fire from members of the Town Council.

“The bottom line is, the chief of police is a personal disappointment to me in that he won’t do something that is easy,” said Town Councilor Nick Economopoulos. “I’m sure he’s going to come up with a 100 different reasons why it’s difficult.”

A majority of the council supports the medication drop box. Councilors made that clear during a meeting Tuesday when Welch brought up the issue. It was tabled so councilors could obtain more information.

“I disagree wholeheartedly with the mayor and police chief,” said Town Councilor John LeTourneau, who added that he doesn’t understand why other towns can successfully employ the drop box but Wallingford can’t.

Democratic Town Councilor Jason Zandri, who is running for mayor, potentially against longtime incumbent Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., said a medication drop box “is a very simple thing to have.”

“I can’t imagine why we can’t do this,” he said.

Zandri said he’s looking into a way of working around the mayor’s decision-making power on the issue. Dickinson supports Dortenzio’s position.

The council can pass a resolution to make the drop box mandatory by creating an ordinance. According to the Town Charter, seven of nine council votes can override the mayor if he disapproves of a council passed ordinance.

Zandri said getting the seven affirmative votes would be an issue, though.

The mayor’s view

On Thursday, Dickinson stood behind Dortenzio.

“He’s the one who knows the way the department functions,” said Dickinson, who added that there should be “respect for the chief ’s decision.”

“If he feels it will absorb more time and effort than justifiable,” the drop box is unnecessary, Dickinson said.

Dickinson said that concentrating on the medication drop box as the town’s only answer to drug abuse issues isn’t wise.

“It’s one of the things that can be done, but it’s hardly the program,” he said. “This isn’t the only way to deal with things.”

While there may be other answers to drug abuse problems, like Dickinson’s suggestion of expanding the drug take-back program the Police Department takes part in twice yearly, it’s the lack of support from Dortenzio which angers Welch the most.

“His whole mission statement is based on getting the public to support him, but when the public needs support, they’re on their own,” Welch said.

“That’s not going to fly.”