By Coral Gables Gazette staff

One year after launching its new computer-aided dispatch and records management system, Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak says the platform has exceeded expectations—delivering on promises of modernization, speed, and interoperability across agencies.

The Mark43 Public Safety Platform, rolled out in July 2024, was first announced in March 2023 as part of the city’s broader technology overhaul. Designed to streamline dispatch operations, reporting, and investigative workflows, the system now underpins not only the Coral Gables Police Department but also the Fire Department and the University of Miami Police Department.

“More features than we expected”

“The transition to Mark43 has been everything they said it would be,” Hudak said in an interview this week. “Their team has worked with my team religiously on implementation, and it actually has more features than what we expected. They added to it.”

That praise comes after a year of system integration and training, including the migration of legacy data from the city’s older dispatch system. Hudak acknowledged the process wasn’t without its challenges—but said it was ultimately smooth.

“When you have to migrate all your data, that takes time,” he said. “There were no problems, but we were running two systems, and the old CAD system was antiquated, especially in pulling reports.”

The platform’s design—cloud-native, mobile-friendly, and interoperable with other jurisdictions—was central to the department’s decision to adopt it. The goal, Hudak said, was not just to improve workflow but to increase the speed and consistency of information-sharing in time-sensitive situations.

A clearer picture of crime data

When asked about concerns that 2024 crime statistics were not yet widely available, Hudak said the delay was not due to a system glitch but to users adjusting to the new interface.

“Depending upon who you were talking to, some people are more delayed in getting up to speed on the new system,” he said. “Our crime analyst unit pulls them up regularly—it’s the backbone of our entire system.”

The department continues to generate crime reports internally, and Hudak said the analytics tools available in Mark43 give the city a more detailed and timely picture than the previous platform.

“The backbone of everything”

Hudak emphasized that all new technology acquired by the department is now expected to integrate with Mark43. From drones to radio communications and CCTV platforms, the goal is a fully connected policing infrastructure.

“Everything we purchase now has to integrate with Mark43,” he said. “As the backbone, it has worked marvelously.”

Some adaptation challenges remain, especially among longer-serving personnel. Hudak noted that tech-savvy officers have embraced the system quickly, while others are still adjusting.

“No complaints from the tech-savvy officers,” he said. “Some more seasoned officers can be resistant to any kind of change—but it’s not because of the system.”

Recent reports of officers handwriting citations or case notes were not related to Mark43 itself, he added, but to unrelated issues such as citation number formatting and user error. “Everybody still has to carry a pen and a piece of paper,” Hudak joked.

A model for other departments

Beyond Coral Gables, the platform has drawn attention from neighboring police departments looking to upgrade their own systems. Hudak said the city is increasingly viewed as a model of effective digital transformation in law enforcement.

“It has increased our speed and ability to solve crimes,” he said. “Detectives now get case info at their fingertips. The end result is we’re able to solve cases and take bad people off the street because information is flowing faster and more consistently.”

For Hudak, that efficiency is not just a technical upgrade—it’s central to the mission of public safety.

“Our residents need to understand their tax dollars are used to increase not only our service to them, but also our ability to investigate crimes at light speed,” he said. “That’s the goal—to solve cases immediately with real-time information.”