Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Grant sought to improve officers’ radio reception

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 07 Dec 2003 14:41:38 -0500

Grant sought to improve officers’ radio reception
By MATT MILLER
Daily Journal staff writer
[email-masked]

Dec. 3, 2003

Edinburgh police officers experience dead spots on their
police radios occasionally, much like cellular phone users
who encounter poor reception.

The radios, on a powerful 800-megahertz system, work fine
98 percent of the time, Edinburgh deputy police chief David
Lutz said. But the 2 percent trouble areas “might be the
spot where we’re screaming for help,” he said.

Johnson County officials hope to eliminate as many dead
spots as possible by having additional communications
software and technology installed.

Joe Pitcher, the county commissioners’ executive
assistant and county attorney, is applying for a grant
through the state and federal emergency management
agencies.

Johnson County police, fire and emergency medical units
communicate over the statewide wireless communications
system called Project Hoosier SAFE-T. County officials
spent $5.1 million to get on the system, which helps local
public safety agencies communicate with each other.
Twelve local police departments and six fire departments
are on the system.

If the grant is approved, the county could receive about
$450,000, Pitcher said. The grant money would enable the
county to pay for installation of hundreds of components
by Motorola, the company utilized by Hoosier SAFE-T.

A new communications site in or near Edinburgh could
strengthen radio signals, allowing them to better penetrate
buildings, Hoosier SAFE-T executive director Les Miller
said. But even with improved technology, signals won’t
reach some areas such as deep basements or valleys.

Some Johnson County law enforcement agencies have had
trouble with the transition to an 800-megahertz radio
system.

Greenwood police stopped using their 800-megahertz
radios more than a year ago when they experienced
problems that were similar to Edinburgh’s but were more
widespread. Voices were garbled or weren’t heard by
police or dispatchers. At the same time, White River
Township firefighters struggled to transmit radio signals
from inside buildings.

Greenwood police resumed using the radios in March after
Motorola installed signal-boosting devices on a cellular
tower at Main Street and State Road 135.

The new equipment in Edinburgh could be installed at an
AT&T cell phone tower that is scheduled to be built in
Edinburgh’s Water Tower Park.

The Edinburgh Town Council has agreed to lease land for
the 190-foot-plus tower to AT&T, in part because hundreds
of residents clamored for better cell phone coverage. AT&T
has paid an initial $600 and will pay $500 monthly lease
payments for five years, said Mike Weddle, director of
public works.

The tower has caused controversy. . Worries included
decreasing property values from building the tower in a
residential area and eliminating space in Water Tower
Park.

If the communications equipment can’t be built on the cell
phone tower, a nearby water tower would work, Pitcher
said. A tower can be built if no existing structure can be
used, he said.

The grant application must be completed today. State
officials hope to announce the recipients Dec. 19, said
Dave Vice, field coordinator of Hoosier SAFE-T.

Any project that improves the coverage of public safety
communications will be considered for the money.
Counties can receive up to $500,000.
http://www.thejournalnet.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=113&ArticleID=40238

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