Subject: [NEXTEL-1] $12.7 million radio system to aid county police

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 09 Jan 2003 11:46:11 -0500

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/live/01_08-28/TOP

$12.7 million radio system to aid county police

By ERIC COLLINS, Staff Writer

In another move to fix Anne Arundel's troubled public safety 
communications, County Executive Janet S. Owens yesterday announced 
the purchase of a new $12.7 million radio system.  

The state-of-the-art, digital 800-megahertz system should further 
reduce radio-signal dead spots that have been plaguing police 
officers and firefighters for years.  

"There's nothing worse than being a police officer and not being able 
to use your radio when you are in your time of need," said Officer 
O'Brien Atkinson, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 
70. "We've been screaming and yelling about our radios for years... 
We always felt that our complaints were falling on deaf ears... (But 
Ms. Owens) and her administration got things done."  

To date, officials have identified 62 dead spots throughout the 
county where radios have been unable to filter intense transmissions 
from cell towers. While in the dead spots, officers have missed calls 
for response and had trouble relaying information to dispatchers such 
as a request for backup, posing a great public safety risk, Officer 
Atkinson said.  

The problem hasn't been as critical for firefighters because they 
don't rely so heavily on their portable radios, said Division Chief 
John Scholz, a county Fire Department spokesman.  

Last year the county spent $1.3 million on 380 new police radios with 
much stronger filters to minimize the problems.  

The County Council also passed a law last January that could force 
companies to relocate cell phone towers that interfere with public 
safety communication.  

One cell phone company asked the Federal Communications Commission to 
overrule the law last year, but so far the county hasn't received any 
word on a decision.  

So far, officials in the county Office of Information Technology have 
been able to alleviate the problems at 37 of the dead spot locations 
while partially fixing the troubles at four more, leaving 21 problem 
areas.  

The office has been working with wireless companies to change their 
frequencies, among other means, to get rid of dead spots.  

The upgraded Motorola radio system should only help that effort, said 
Cathy Kurnas, director of the county's 911 Communications Center.  

For example, the county will obtain 16 additional radio frequencies 
in the new system, allowing them to get away from some of the 
frequencies used by area cellular carriers, she said.  

"This system is definitely going to improve our interference 
problems," Ms. Kurnas said.  

Work on the changeover, funded through the county's fiscal 2003 
capital budget, is scheduled to begin next week and should take a 
year to complete.  

Officials will evaluate the need for additional upgrades, which could 
include more radios and additional towers, after the initial work is 
completed.  

The current system is analog and uses technology that is more than 15 
years old. Its replacement has both analog and digital capabilities.  

"As a matter of priority, this is the most important capital project 
undertaken in the county," Ms. Owens said in a statement.

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