PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (KXAN) – The City of Pflugerville sank a quarter million dollars last summer into a new computer-aided dispatch system and record management software for the police department. One year later, the city ditched the new system and has cut ties with the company paid to make the upgrade.
Computer-aided dispatch, or CAD, programs are critical pieces of technology that allow dispatchers to efficiently manage and route emergency services when seconds matter and lives are in danger. Pflugerville’s new system was also intended to integrate records into police units responding to calls, according to the payment terms.
Last May, Pflugerville City Council approved a five-year, $1.25 million contract between the police department and Integrated Computer Systems (ICS) for its CAD and record management software system called Athena.
The first $250,000 payment on that contract was sent in May 2024. From there, the roll out did not go as expected.
“Due to limitations in transferring data between our previous CAD system and Athena, it was not a financially viable solution to proceed with Athena,” a city spokesperson provided KXAN with a statement saying.
To maintain “operational continuity,” the city had to retain its previous CAD system called Spillman at a cost of about $140,000 a year and ultimately end the Athena contract, according to the city’s statement.
To better understand what happened, KXAN obtained internal city documents and emails. Those revealed a raft of issues the police department and dispatchers faced when trying, unsuccessfully, to fully transition to the new Athena system.
Pflugerville initially signed a software license agreement with ICS in June 2023. That agreement, with the city manager’s signature, said Pflugerville was given “an adequate opportunity to investigate” ICS’s software, and based on the examination the software was “satisfactory.”
Versaterm acquired ICS in April 2024. Pflugerville City Council approved the ICS deal for Athena services a month later, according to Council records.
A Versaterm spokesperson told KXAN that Pflugerville’s procurement of Athena was handled prior to Versaterm’s acquisition of ICS, though some aspects of the city’s implementation took place after the company was acquired.
“While we do not comment on individual customer deployments, we are aware of the situation and remain committed to supporting our customers with the tools, training, and guidance they need to operate effectively,” the Versaterm spokesperson, Edward Lin, said in a statement. “We refer all further questions to the agency’s public information officer.”
Delays “during life-threatening incidents”
The City of Pflugerville provided few details of the issues the police department faced when using Athena. However, internal emails and an assessment of the software implementation, which KXAN obtained through the Texas Public Information Act, show a fraught rollout.
There were “significant delays in information returns DL information, vehicle information, previous law enforcement interactions, photographs, etc.) in Athena, resulting in delays in officers receiving critical information during life-threatening incidents,” according to one internal email.
The “city did not anticipate the increase in time,” and the previous CAD system had no delay, the city said in the email.
Additionally, the Athena CAD system and record management system were not integrated, meaning certain records weren’t automatically imported, and data had to be “copied and pasted manually,” according to another email.
The new CAD system did not show license photos, could not dispatch outside city limits and only dispatched one unit at a time.
In one case, the system’s mapping alerts located an officer “somewhere in the ocean off the coast of Africa,” according to a 13-page city assessment of the software.
The assessment contains 69 bullet-pointed issues with the program, including 44 considered the highest level – “5 out of 5” – critical issues.
KXAN sent Pflugerville’s assessment to Versaterm. In response, the company’s spokesperson said they “appreciate the opportunity to review it.”
Ending the contract
The payment terms of Pflugerville’s original agreement stipulated an initial $250,000 payment in May 2024, which the city made, followed by annual payments until 2028.
It isn’t clear exactly how long the city used Athena. In one internal email, a spokesperson said they used the service for “6ish months.” Near the end of 2024, the city opted to end its involvement with ICS.
Pflugerville’s Interim Chief of Police Steve Griffith – who began his job on June 9 and wasn’t involved in the city’s relationship with ICS – said it is “my belief that the terms of this agreement have been met and thus our contractual relationship with Integrated Computer Systems, Inc. has ended,” according to an emailed statement.
How the implementation of Athena affected Pflugerville PD’s rank-and-file officers and dispatchers isn’t clear.
KXAN reached out to every Pflugerville City Council member and mayor for an interview or for comment on the CAD system issue. None would speak on the record.
After KXAN began asking questions about the Athena system, internal emails show Mayor Victor Gonzales did have at least one question for his staff.
“Did we get the money back?” Gonzales asked.
According to records obtained by KXAN, the city did not.