911 vendor for Fort Smith, county allegedly breaches contract

The Fort Smith Board of Directors was given a heads up on Tuesday (June 23) about a recommended vendor change with a software system critical to operating a unified 911 – computer-aided dispatch (CAD) – system which also provides records and jail management services.

Wes Milam, director of Public Safety Communications, is overseeing the mandated consolidation in Sebastian County of a public safety answering point (PSAP), commonly known as a 911 system. The state of Arkansas has mandated a consolidated 911 center for all law enforcement agencies in a county.

In a memo to the city, Milam said Moorestown, N.J.-based ProPhoenix was awarded the contract in 2023 to provide “a Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD), Records Management System (RMS), Jail Management System (JMS), and Mobile platform.” The system was activated in September 2025, with work underway to expand the system for consolidated county use.

However, Milam learned that ProPhoenix allowed people who had not received certain security clearances to work on the system. Milam said the breach was similar to someone in the medical field violating patient privacy rights. Part of the violation included someone working from India attempting to gain credentials to get inside the system.

“It really comes down to shoddy business practices,” Milam told Talk Business & Politics in an interview prior to the Tuesday board meeting. “There was no data loss, no malicious willful attempt. But it was a mistake that we can’t ignore anymore. … We cannot move forward with ProPhoenix.”

Milam’s memo to the city summarized what he described as a “very unfortunate” issue.

In February 2026, the city discovered a breach by the vendor that violated both the terms of our agreement and the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy,” Milam wrote. “As a result, all vendor access to the ProPhoenix system was immediately revoked. The RVCC, police, and fire departments have been operating without vendor support since then, and the Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC) has imposed additional administrative obligations on the City as a result of the breach. Given the severity of the incident, we have determined that we can no longer maintain a trust relationship with ProPhoenix sufficient to continue the contract. The next annual Service and License Fee is due in September 2026, and ProPhoenix has been notified that the city will not be renewing.”

The city is seeking to recover all or most of $1.2 million that has been paid so far to ProPhoenix.

Milam also told the board he plans to proceed with Central Square as a system vendor for the consolidation. He said in a 2022 bidding process, Central Square “scored equally with ProPhoenix.” Moving to Central Square will cost $380,000, and Milam told the board that Central Square will be cheaper over time than ProPhoenix.

“The city is already a CentralSquare customer through its legacy PSSI CAD/RMS system,” Milam noted in the memo. “Further, CentralSquare is available through the Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing contract (#030425-CNSQ), satisfying competitive procurement requirements.”

Milam told Talk Business & Politics that the agency will still be able to meet the July 6 deadline for consolidation. However, it will initially require the merger of a system used by the Fort Smith Police Department and a system used by the county. Milam said he is confident a fully consolidated new system could be online in early 2027.

The board will vote July 7 on whether to authorize using Central Square.