Athens County law enforcement is beefing up its security and communication systems with new portable radios in compliance with a recent mandate by the Department of Homeland Security to improve communication among first responders.
Everybody's been using low-band radios and have been getting static. These radios will change that
Athens County Commissioner Mark Sullivan said.
The portable radios have 128 channels that will standardize communication for all county first responders. The radios will synchronize county law enforcement, fire departments and ambulance services, allowing them to respond to emergencies almost anywhere in the county. Currently, fire departments and ambulance services have radios of the same model.
The infrastructure was never there to contact the other county agencies said OU Police Lt. Rich Russell.
The Athens County sheriff, OU Police Department, Athens Police Department, Nelsonville Police Department, Hocking College Police and the Village Marshals will receive 95 radios costing about $54,000.
The radios will be used every day and are not just for coordinating big events, such as the upcoming switch to daylight-saving time on April 3, Russell said. The time change is notorious for causing problems in any town, especially ones that are home to college campuses, he said.
Doug Bentley, Athens County 911 chief of operations, said the radios are usually shipped between 10 days to two weeks from the day they are ordered from Columbus-based B & C Communications. In order to prepare for the impending time change, many other counties are ordering the radios as well, which might cause orders to back up. However, Bentley said he is remaining optimistic that the radios will arrive on time.
We'll have the radios before the time change he said at the county commissioners meeting yesterday. This is another step toward interoperable communications in Athens County.
Athens County is paying for the radios with money it receives from the Department of Homeland Security's anti-terrorism fund. The county receives about $450,000 each year, Sullivan said.
The funds are distributed through the Federal Emergency Management Association, which became part of the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
The Ohio EMA coordinates state assistance and resources during emergencies and prepares the state for all hazards through training, exercises and funding activities at the state and local level.
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