Overview
- The Public Safety Committee, which met Tuesday, recessed its hearing to June 3 after procurement officials offered no timeline for choosing a vendor.
- Chief Procurement Officer Sharla Roberts declined to name evaluators or a frontrunner and said large, technical RFPs can take 18 to 24 months to produce a signed contract.
- The city logged 15 responses to its initial information request and nine formal bids by April 2025 from firms including SoundThinking, yet no award has been made despite $13.9 million budgeted for a replacement system.
- Alders Brian Hopkins, Peter Chico, Silvana Tabares, and Pat Dowell said the delay endangers residents, citing shootings that went unreported to 911 and victims left without quick help.
- Committee leaders said they want Chicago police at the June 3 session, and Mayor Brandon Johnson said he remains committed to vetting new technology after he ended ShotSpotter in September 2024 over cost and effectiveness concerns.