The city of Chicago began rolling out a new 911 dispatch system Tuesday that officials say will help improve emergency response times.
The new computer-aided dispatch system went live, despite pushback from aldermen who urged Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office to slow the implementation until they received assurances that the system was ready.
In a letter sent to the mayor last week, 14 aldermen expressed concerns and requested additional information, saying significant questions about the system remain unanswered.
“We support modernization, but it cannot come at the expense of the safety of Chicago residents or the police officers, firefighters, paramedics, call takers and dispatchers who depend on this system,” the letter said. “Public reporting has raised concerns about system stability, new workflows, call handling and callback functionality, delayed information, and the adequacy of hands-on training.”
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) said City Council members brought their concerns to the mayor’s office when they heard from OEMC employees and dispatchers that the new system was dropping calls and some calls were not routed to the correct department.
But in a response letter, the mayor’s office said the system has undergone extensive stress testing, including a test in which it handled 3,800 911 calls — or 150% of the city’s busiest call hours — in a single hour and “met the response-time requirements specified in the contract.”
The city signed a nearly $75 million contract with provider CentralSquare Technologies in 2019 to upgrade the 30-year-old system it had been using.
Officials said the new system will improve emergency response times by up to 33 seconds and that it will streamline police, fire and emergency medical dispatch operations by providing a common platform that allows all departments to access the same information in real time.
For now, the new system will operate alongside the older system “in order to maintain and ensure Chicago’s public safety infrastructure,” Johnson’s office said Tuesday.
Taliaferro said he appreciated Johnson’s “quick response” to the concerns and called the decision to keep the legacy system in place as a backup the “right move.”
“It gives us an opportunity to look at this a little further to see if we do have a functional system,” he said. “And if some of the concerns that were expressed to us doesn’t rise to the need to cease operation of the new CAD system.”
The mayor’s office said there is no specific date for when the new system will fully take over, allowing officials to make adjustments and address any contingencies that may arise during the transition.
However, the office said the “process would be completed this fall.”
Dispatchers began training to use the new system in October 2025 and have completed more than 4,600 hours of classroom instruction, city officials said.
Taliaferro, who serves on the Committee on Public Safety, said the group will follow up with the mayor’s office and OEMC next month to check on the system’s progress.
Johnson’s office said it will begin offering briefings with aldermen next week.