A 32-page report by the New Orleans Office of Inspector General says there were multiple irregularities in the way former Orleans Parish Communications Executive Director Tyrell Morris obtained a multi-million dollar contract for software upgrades to the city's 911 center.
I.G. Ed Michel's report also says that Morris altered documents in order to sign the contract.
"The OIG found the OPCD’s former executive director signed the Hexagon contract without prior approval and altered board documents to obtain financing for the project," the inspector general's brief reads.
"Further, although the former executive did obtain board approval to finance the project, he subsequently altered the original board resolution to obtain financing from a different bank than originally specified, under different terms," it states.
Morris announced the new software system as something that would modernize and streamline how emergency services handle 911 calls. But it proved to be buggy and difficult, and a WWL-TV investigation reported the New Orleans Police Department and Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office found that it could not handle many of the functions required in the contract.
The contract was eventually canceled, but not after it cost the city $3.8 million.
Morris resigned as OPCD Executive Director in 2023 after it was revealed he was in a car crash in a department vehicle but allegedly altered documents to avoid dug and alcohol tests.
Morris currently faces malfeasance and other criminal charges in that case.
