Health and Safety Committee Meeting – February 4, 2026: Approval of Motorola CAD Contract and Amendment
Health and Safety Committee Meeting – February 4, 2026
The Health and Safety Committee of the Denver City Council met on February 4, 2026, chaired by Councilmember Darrell Watson (District 9). The committee considered two action items as a block: a 13-year contract with Motorola Solutions for a new computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system valued at over $24 million, and an amendment to an existing contract with Mission Critical Partners for project management support. The new CAD system will replace a 23-year-old platform, unify Denver 911 and Denver International Airport dispatch operations, and support non-emergency reporting via mobile app and text. The committee voted unanimously to approve both items.
Consent Calendar
- Four consent agenda items were listed and none were pulled; the items were approved without discussion.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comment was offered during the meeting.
Discussion Items
- Presentation of the Motorola CAD Contract: Andrew Dameron, Director of Denver 911, presented alongside Paul Donaldson (Denver International Airport) and Jacob Witter (Denver 911 IT Manager). The new Premier 1 CAD system will replace the current system, which is no longer meeting needs and forces staff to adapt workflows around software limitations. The contract is for 13 years and includes cloud-native architecture, a no-cost option to move to full cloud deployment, and integration with 311's Salesforce system. The system will also support STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) by creating a dedicated dispatcher role for crisis response.
- Key Statistics: Denver 911 created 1.5 million unique CAD incidents in 2025; the airport created 60,000. The RFP process began in December 2022, with selection in December 2024. Implementation is expected to take 12–18 months, with a go-live target in summer 2027.
- Data Privacy: Motorola passed the city’s vendor risk assessment, and a new Colorado Attorney General provision limits federal law enforcement access to criminal justice data.
- Funding: The contract is funded through the 911 trust fund, with costs split between Denver 911 and the airport based on workstation counts (exact split to be provided later).
- Council Questions and Clarifications:
- Councilmember Amanda Sawyer (District 5) praised recent 911 response times and asked about the transition’s impact on residents. Dameron confirmed the phone system is separate, so no service degradation will occur during implementation.
- Councilmember Jamie Torres (District 3) asked about funding sources and resident benefits. Dameron noted the system will enable non-emergency reporting via app and text, reducing call volume and wait times.
- Councilmember Diana Romero Campbell (District 4) asked about a recent shelter-in-place alert that erroneously went citywide. Dameron explained the alert system is separate from CAD, and the software issue has been resolved with the vendor. The committee also discussed future enhancements for alerting older adults.
- Councilmember Kevin Flynn (District 2) inquired about the non-emergency line (720-913-2000), which handles 60% of call volume. Dameron said the new system will allow callers to receive links to text or online reporting while on hold.
- Councilmember Sarah Parady (at-large) asked how the system will help STAR. Dameron described plans for a dedicated STAR dispatcher and a new citywide channel.
- Councilmember Parady also relayed a question from absent Councilmember Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez about a system administrator position included in the contract. Dameron explained that a Motorola systems administrator is included for 13 years but is intended to be used only for the first three years to help the city’s IT team transition.
Key Outcomes
- Motion and Vote: Councilmember Sawyer moved to approve both action items as a block; Councilmember Flynn seconded. The committee voted unanimously by show of thumbs. The items will proceed to the full City Council for a vote.
- Next Steps: The contract execution will begin the 12- to 18-month implementation. The committee requested additional information on the Airport’s cost split and on Jefferson County’s outcomes with similar non-emergency reporting tools.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome back to this weekly meeting of the Health and Safety Committee with Denver City Council. Coverage of the Health and Safety Committee starts now. Good morning and welcome to the Health and Safety Committee meeting for February 4th. My name is Darrell Watson. I'm honored to serve as the chair of the Health and Safety Committee, as well as the city council member representing all of the fine District 9. We have two items on the agenda. We'll be voting on them as a block. But before we jump into the agenda and presentation, why don't we start with introductions by city council members. And we'll start on our right. Kevin Flynn, Southwest members, District 2. Amanda Sawyer, District 5. Sarah Parity, one of your council members at large. Jamie Torres, West Denver, District 3. Good morning, Diana Romero Campbell, Southeast Denver, District 4. Well, good morning everyone. We have a action item presentation from a DOS contract with Motorola. We have our good friends from Denver 911 and we'll turn it over to Andrew and team to introduce the team and to kick off the presentation. True. Well, thank you very much for having us. Andrew Dameron, Director of Denver 911. I'll let the team introduce themselves. Good morning, Paul Donaldson with Denver International Airport. And Jacob Witter, Denver 911 IT manager. So we are here today to kind of talk through the computer-aided dispatch contract that is before you, along with a contract amendment, and I'll get into all those details here. And so we'll talk a little bit about the background, what computer-aided dispatch software is, the replacement process that we've been through thus far, anticipated benefits, and then kind of a little bit of a timeline. The high-level overview, the Motorola contract will be a 13-year contract for just over $24 million, and this is a replacement of our computer-aided dispatch software. The second is an amendment to an existing contract with mission-critical partners to leverage them for project management support for the 12- to 18-month implementation that will be required for the CAD system. And I will use the acronym CAD instead of saying computer-aided dispatch over and over. just to kind of call that out. You're demonstrating great behavior and communication. Thank you. Hitting the acronym first, clarifying, and then communicating. Absolutely, yes. Thank you. Golf clap. So computer-aided dispatch or CAD software is the primary piece of technology that we utilize at 9-1-1. It's where we document 100% of what we do from every phone call, whether 9-1-1, not emergency, All calls for service. Anytime a police officer calls out over the radio and is reporting something, you know, fire runs across something in the middle of downtown, we document everything in CAD. Additionally, we have documentation and responsibility for park rangers, Denver Sheriff, Denver Animal Protection. And it's basically the central hub that connects to over 25 different pieces of public safety technology. So it is kind of a hub and spoke system. Just as kind of an idea, in Denver, at Denver 911, we created 1.5 million unique CAD incidents in 2025. The airport themselves created 60,000.
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