Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Radios put officers in touch

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 20:51:44 -0400

Radios put officers in touch

System could link Summit County
 departments to avoid disaster

By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer

Mon, Oct. 13, 2003

Not too long ago, Akron police officers and Summit County sheriff's deputies
didn't have a way to ask each other, ``Can you hear me now?''

But last month, the county sheriff's office and the city of Akron joined forces in
an expanded, more powerful 800-megahertz radio system for public safety.

That's the cornerstone of a radio communication system that could link every
police officer, firefighter, road crew and emergency medical services squad in the
county for the first time.

The Federal Communications Commission reserves a number of 800-megahertz
frequencies for public police, fire and emergency personnel around the country.
Together, Akron and Summit County now share 26 frequencies.

Officers from both departments can talk directly to each other during massive
events like plane crashes and tornadoes.

"This allows the public safety (forces) to more effectively and efficiently handle
the situation at hand,'' said Bob Scarlatelli, the county's director of wireless
communications. "It could mean a faster response time.''

The county spent $8 million to expand and upgrade the city's existing
800-megahertz system, installing more towers and bringing the total to five to
broaden the system's geographic range.

The program is part of a nationwide drive to streamline communication for first
responders -- a need especially evident in the World Trade Center attacks two
years ago.

While police helicopters radioed their colleagues of the impending collapse of the
second building, firefighters were tuned to a different frequency and didn't get
the early warning -- hence, hundreds of them died.

Program under way

Ohio is rolling out its own statewide program right now, called MARCS for
Multi-Agency Radio Communications System. See
http://www.northropgrumman.com/tech_cd/ms/ms_marcs.html and
http://www.state.oh.us/das/dcs/marcs/)

Thirteen central Ohio counties were connected to the $272 million project in
September 2002; 22 northern Ohio counties including Summit will be hooked up by
the end of the year, said Todd Barnhouse, MARCS' operations manager.

Eventually, the state radio system of 200 towers will blanket 97.5 percent of each
county -- coverage promised, Barnhouse said, by actual ``do you hear me now?''
tests.

Counties that don't have their own 800-megahertz systems can take part by
purchasing the MARCS radios, said Ben Piscitelli, spokesman for the Ohio
Department of Administrative Services, which is overseeing the project.

Those that already have the systems will tie in virtually effortlessly to the
state Emergency Management Agency office, State Highway Patrol and prisons, he
said.

``The system provides instantaneous protection for public safety and service,''
Barnhouse said. ``First responders will get information in real time.''

That's also the goal of the local countywide system, in progress for more than a
dozen years.

Before this, the county's and Akron's radio systems operated on different
bandwidths -- or frequencies, like radio stations -- and weren't compatible.

Officers in the field could reach other police departments only through their
dispatchers. The dispatcher had to call the other department on the telephone and
relay the officer's information, then shuttle the response back.

``There was a time lag and lots of chances for the message to get messed up,''
said Deputy Fire Chief Charles Strum, who oversees the city's safety
communications center. ``It was very arduous and cumbersome and dangerous.''

Getting left behind

The county talked about setting up a system as early as the mid-'80s, but money
was a sticking point, said Scarlatelli.

Over the last dozen years or so, though, many Summit County communities --
including Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls and Green -- moved ahead with their own
systems.

The city of Akron launched its in the mid-'90s, first with public service and then
with police and fire. The city has invested $15 million in its communication
center, infrastructure and radios.

``The Summit County sheriff was an island in and of itself,'' Scarlatelli said.
``Most of the other major communities in the county already had 800-megahertz
systems.''

So the county decided to piggyback on the Akron system, upgrading the city's
equipment in exchange for using its infrastructure, existing towers and microwave
radio systems. Scarlatelli said the collaboration saved the county massive startup
costs.

Now the sheriff and city share so-called ``talk groups'' that operate off a common
system. They're designated for particular subsets of first responders, like those
in fire prevention, the detective bureau or court security.

This means that police officers and sheriff's deputies can talk directly to each
other.

Also, officers in trouble in the field can summon help with the simple touch of a
button. In the past, the officer couldn't reach the dispatcher if other officers
were talking on the radio, delaying help just when it was most needed.

And while the sheriff and police still maintain their own radio communications for
everyday business, the systems back up each other in the event of a computer or
microwave dish failure -- another first.

In still one further step, other communities with 800-megahertz systems eventually
may tie into the joint city and county one.

While the county-city system is digital and the rest of the systems in the county
are analog, the county can create analog mutual-aid channels and program radios in
the outlying communities into its system. However, many are upgrading to their own
digital systems, Piscitelli said, so that won't be necessary.

Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or [email-masked] 

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/7001475.htm

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