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TO: Mayor John Laesch
FROM: Bryan Handell, Aurora Police Commander, Bureau of Administrative Services
Mike Kaufman, Aurora Fire Department Assistant Chief of Support Services
Ram Tyagi, Chief Information Officer
Jeff Anderson, Deputy Chief Information Officer
DATE: July 21, 2025
SUBJECT:
A resolution authorizing the director of purchasing to enter into a five year agreement with Mark43, Inc. of New York, New York and ancillary vendors at a cost of $4,020,267.64 for the purposes of obtaining a CAD/RMS system and developing interfaces required for system functionality.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this Resolution is to request permission to proceed with the purchase of Computer Aided Dispatch and Police Records Management Systems. This includes a request for permission to sign contracts for software and services from Mark43, Inc. Mark43, Inc. has been selected to provide its CAD product for a unified CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system for both Police and Fire dispatching. Mark43’s RMS (Records Management System) was also selected to provide Police RMS software.
BACKGROUND:
The City’s existing CAD and RMS are provided by Hexagon. These two systems form the basis of all Police and Fire operations. They were purchased in 2015 for almost $5 million.
The city has paid additional hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop new software integrations with various other systems and to comply with state mandates. These systems are at the end of their life. Hexagon no longer provides resolution for low-level problems, and they plan to end all support for these systems within the next one to two years.
In addition, there has been broad dissatisfaction among Police, Fire, and IT staff with these systems. Many of the features promised in the original contract were never provided or did not function as promised. While the city did receive financial reimbursement for these missing or sub-par functions, it has reduced employees’ efficiency and forced the development of workarounds to function. A survey of police department employees conducted reference their satisfaction with the Hexagon RMS produced the following results: 78% of respondents were either very or somewhat dissatisfied with the current RMS; 86% of respondents wanted the department to explore obtaining a new RMS; 31% of respondents could not identify one thing they liked about the current system.
In Autumn of 2023, a gap analysis and needs assessment was conducted by Crowe, LLP to identify the city’s CAD and RMS needs, gaps in the current systems, and recommendations for the future. Crowe reviewed documentation about the current system and met with representatives from various units within the police, fire, and IT department. These participants were actively engaged in identifying functional requirements and existing and desired business processes. Crowe also conducted market research involving peer public safety agencies, public sector technology trends, and vendor system options. The final report offered recommendations on the selection and implementation of new CAD and RMS systems.
In Spring of 2024, Marketplace.city utilized Crowe’s report along with input from police, fire, IT, and finance departments to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for a new CAD and RMS. The RFP resulted in responses from the following vendors: Axon, Central Square, Emeres, GeoConex, Mark43, Omnigo, ProPhoenix, Pulsiam, True North, and Tyler Technologies.
The ten vendors demonstrated their systems for representatives of various ranks and units in the police, fire, IT, and finance department. Following these initial demonstrations, the vendors were narrowed down to GeoConex, Mark43, ProPhoenix, and Tyler for CAD, and Axon, Mark43, and Tyler for RMS. These remaining finalists provided longer, in-person demos in autumn of 2024. Following these demos, the reviewing team agreed to move forward with two potential options. The first option was to pair Tyler’s CAD with Axon’s RMS. The second option was to use Mark43 for both CAD and RMS.
An updated RFP was issued by Marketplace.city in December 2024 to the remaining vendors to request a more detailed pricing breakdown. Prices were provided for a 5-year contract to include software and maintenance licenses, implementation, data migration, and software integration. The Axon/Tyler combined system had a price of approximately $5.3 million, while the Mark43 system had a price of approximately $3.5 million. Please note that these prices do not include potential integration costs from other software that will be integrated with the CAD/RMS software.
Each of the remaining vendors was given the opportunity in January and February of 2025 to set up hands on 30-minute guided demos at the police department for twelve hours a day over three days. Police and fire department employees were given the opportunity to participate in order to get feedback from the end-users. At the same time, police, fire, and IT personnel conducted site visits and inquiries at public safety agencies in-state and across the country who used these systems. Feedback from both the on-site labs and site visits showed a clear preference for the Mark43 systems.
Leadership from the police, fire, and IT departments reviewed the entire selection process and unanimously chose Mark43 as the CAD and RMS solution to pursue for the following key reasons: Mark43 provides a seamless integration between CAD and RMS that allows for data to flow bilaterally between the systems; using one vendor should provide a simpler implementation and maintenance process; the modern, user-friendly design of Mark43s user interface should increase end-users’ efficiency; and Mark43 is significantly cheaper.
DISCUSSION:
Going into a difficult budget year, the Police, Fire, and IT Departments are sensitive to the financial challenges facing the city. IT has set aside monies in their operational budget through 2028 (Resolution number O23-088) for this software, and the police department has set aside monies in both the 911 surcharge funds and asset forfeiture funds to cover the remaining difference. The result of this planning ensures that this project is fully funded, and no additional funds are needed at this time.
In addition to the amount of software and services directly contracted for under the agreement with Mark43, additional costs may be incurred when developing interfaces between the new CAD and RMS systems and other existing public safety systems. These numbers cannot be fully identified until post-contract signing and additional detailed design meetings are held with Mark43. In consideration, a 10% contingency was added to the original purchase quote of $3,654,789 to cover the cost of these interfaces. This contingency would be used to pay for the development and maintenance of interfaces that are charged by the other public safety systems' vendors; Mark43's cost for development and maintenance of these interfaces is included in the quoted price.
It should be noted that the use of 911 surcharge funds are restricted by statute. These funds will only cover CAD related expenses. Asset forfeiture funds by statute may only be spent on certain Police related expenses.
The IT Department has budgeted funds for this project under account 340-1280-419.38-12. Additional funds from the police department’s asset forfeiture funds (accounts 256-3536-421.38-12 and 257-3536-421-38.12) and the ETSB 911 surcharge fund (account 211-3536-421.38-12) will be used to cover additional costs, as broken down below:
Upon City Council approval of this contract, staff will begin working with Mark43 immediately to begin the lengthy process of data conversion and implementation. While implementing the new CAD/RMS, Public Safety staff must still utilize the current Hexagon systems. As such, staff will bring forth a resolution to City Council later this year to renew the maintenance and licensing agreement with Hexagon as implementation continues on Mark43.
IMPACT STATEMENT:
This project has far-reaching implications for Public Safety operations. Both the Police and Fire Departments anticipate significant efficiency gains and enhanced public safety from moving to the new systems. Failure to approve this resolution would result in public safety retaining the current software which is at its end-of-life and not fully supported by the vendor any longer.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Request the proposed resolution be approved.
cc: Infrastructure & Technology Committee
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
RESOLUTION NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
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A Resolution authorizing the director of purchasing to enter into a five year agreement with Mark43, Inc. of New York, New York and ancillary vendors at a cost of $4,020,267.64 for the purposes of obtaining a CAD/RMS system and developing interfaces required for system functionality.
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WHEREAS, the City of Aurora has a population of more than 25,000 persons and is, therefore, a home rule unit under subsection (a) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, subject to said Section, a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the current CAD/RMS system does not meet the City's needs and will no longer be supported by the current vendor; and
WHEREAS, a competitive bidding process was completed that involved Police, Fire and Information Technology staff; and
WHEREAS, the City's budget provides sufficient funds for this purchase in the amount not to exceed $4,020,267.64 for the related software and services in the following funds and accounts:
IT Operational Budget 340-1280-419.38-12
Wireless E911 Surcharge account 211-3536-421.38-12
Federal Asset Forfeiture accounts 256-3536-421.38-12 and 257-3536-421-38.12.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, as follows: the Director of Purchasing is hereby authorized to issue purchase orders for services described in this resolution and as more fully set forth in the contract attached hereto.