By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(July 16, 2026) The Berlin Police Department wants a modernized communication system to streamline cross-agency collaboration and to enhance public safety.

At Monday night’s Berlin Town Council meeting, Police Chief Howard Drewer asked the council to replace the department’s current Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD), Records Management System (RMS), and Mobile Computer Terminal (MCT) platforms.

Drewer said that the agency’s existing system is functional but outdated and fails to meet a level of real-time information sharing expected in today’s law enforcement industry.

The police chief said that CentralSquare, the upgraded software, is used by Worcester County, Ocean City, and Ocean Pines. According to a staff report, “the system will improve communication, data sharing, officer safety, reporting capabilities, and operational efficiency while reducing duplicate data entry and administrative workload.”

Additionally, the platform would allow the Berlin Police Department to communicate directly with the Worcester County Emergency Services 911 Center. Berlin dispatchers may currently only view 911 incidents on a read-only basis. Updates must be relayed through separate channels.

“We do not receive 911 calls, and we do not meet Maryland standards to dispatch those same calls,” Drewer said. “What happens is they forward the information to us so we can have our officers respond. And we can only view them. With this access, we would be able to work within the same system which is set up with Worcester County, Ocean City, and Ocean Pines.”

Drewer noted that right now, the Berlin Police Department’s data comes only from the incidents in which Berlin has been directly involved. The modernized software offers video and image sharing, allowing Berlin to view audio and visual materials captured by the law enforcement agencies of Ocean City, Worcester County, and Ocean Pines.

One significant benefit of the updated software is its ability to bolster public safety. Drewer said that gathering information on suspects or suspicious individuals would be as quick as a hat trick.

“Say we had a subject that someone called in that was suspicious in their neighborhood,” he said. “Currently, once we run their information through the National Crime Information Center, and they don’t come back with any warrants, we can come back, we can call other agencies to find out if they’ve had contact with that person.

“What happens when we find out that person is a suspect for a rape in the Town of Ocean City? [With the new platforms] We can work directly with these agencies and pull that information up at the touch of a button. Anyone that uses CentralSquare … we can get that information from them saying, ‘yes, we had contact with that person.’”

Drewer said that getting officers and dispatchers up to speed would take about a week each, with instruction taking no more than a month.

The total cost of implementing the proposed CAD/RMS/MCT platform is $50,563 with an annual operating cost of $21,500. The staff report says that industry estimates for setting up and maintaining a standalone CAD/RMS system are about $500,000. Still, the price tag is reduced by participating in the proposed regional software.

To fund the project, the police department is applying for the Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (BJAG) administered by the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy (GOCCP).

However, if the grant is not awarded, the Town Council agreed this week to explore other ways to fund the modernized police system.

“We need to take a hard look at this,” Drewer said.