Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Fire, police radios due by April System to be in place eight months ahead of schedule

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 12:03:21 -0500

Fire, police radios due by April System to be in place eight months ahead of
schedule
12/10/03

BARNETT WRIGHT
News staff writer Birmingham city officials this week said a new police and fire
radio system will be in place by April - eight months ahead of schedule.

Originally the city was scheduled to begin operations with the new radios in
December 2004, said Al Herbert, the mayor's chief of staff.

He said the city will begin to distribute the new radios to police officers and
firefighters in the spring.
Herbert said the city was able to move up the date after making significant
gains sharing mountaintop facilities with other signal providers rather than
building towers.

City police and fire officials have said their current radios do not meet the
specific needs of their jobs.

"The system we have, we're finding fewer parts for and it's more and more
difficult for these officers to have a radio that's fully operational," said
Sgt. Allen Treadaway, president of the Birmingham Fraternal Order of Police.

Treadaway added that he was pleased that officers would obtain new radios sooner
rather than later. "It seems the mayor's office and Motorola have worked very
hard to get the system implemented. That's very positive not only for public
safety, but for the citizens we serve and protect," he said.

The City Council authorized Mayor Bernard Kincaid in May to purchase the
$12.5-million police and firefighter radio system from Motorola.

Capt. C.W. Mardis, spokesman for Birmingham Fire and Rescue, said firefighters
are looking forward to receiving the new radios.

"We hope we don't have some of the problems that we've had in the past," he
said. "Hopefully, these will give us better service than the ones we're using."

Herbert said the new units would eliminate problems that plagued public safety
officials in the past. "One of the issues was that those old radios were not set
up for standards of security for police and fire," said Herbert.

He said the city will own the new system and no longer have to pay up to
$120,000 a month for airtime, maintenance and equipment.

He pointed out that some officials will still use radios provided by
SouthernLinc in departments such as public works which doesn't have the security
needs of the police and fire department.

John Wade, director, information management services, said the city is finishing
up leases on new mountaintop facilities needed to transmit signals for the new
system.

"We've already done most of our engineering on how the system works and where
the towers need to be," he said.
Wade said that the city will replace about 2,100 radios for police, fire and
medical emergencies. "What takes us longest to install is all the communications
equipment that makes the radios work," he said. "It's all the stuff behind the
radio, the wireless technology that's regulated by the Federal Communications
Commission. We have to be licensed on certain channels, inspected and approved
so that we're not conflicting with anyone else."

Wade said the new system will also allow the Birmingham police officers to
communicate with their Jefferson County counterparts.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1071051377222410.xml

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