NORRISTOWN PA – Montgomery County Commissioners reportedly have already done what many local police chiefs, including Lower Pottsgrove‘s own Chief Michael Shade, had hoped they wouldn’t do: put a “band-aid” solution on a multi-million dollar communications problem with the county’s 9-1-1 emergency dispatch system.
The system’s radios are, for the most part, old and failing. Lower Pottsgrove has owned its handheld units for 16 years, Shade told the township Board of Commissioners during their Monday meeting (May 2, 2011), and they’re comparatively new, he said; at least half the radios used by other police departments in the county are even older.
The county, which is under a federal order to change how the system works, had three choices. It could simply switch frequencies on which the existing equipment operates, a process known as rebanding; it could upgrade the system and many of the handheld units at a cost of up to $50 million; or it could replace the entire system at a cost of up to $120 million.
Faced with a last Thursday (April 28) deadline imposed by the Federal Communications Commission, the county opted for rebanding, according to The (Lansdale PA) Reporter newspaper. The process could take up to three years, and for some police departments may present occasional “officer safety issues,” Shade suggested.
Despite their age, Lower Pottsgrove’s radios are digital models, “so hopefully we’ll make the (rebanding) transition without a problem,” Shade said.
“But that’s just a band-aid for the problem,” township board President Jonathan Spadt observed, as he heard the chief describe the situation.
From Shade’s perspective, the possibly good news is that the county hasn’t shut the door on an upgrade, which he and Lower Pottsgrove Manager Rodney Hawthorne favor. County officials indicate the upgrade can still be pursued, even while rebanding gets under way during the next six months.
On that topic, Shade gave commissioners and, by extension, township taxpayers an advance warning. Upgrading the handhelds alone costs between $5,000 and $7,000 per unit, he said. Given its contingent of officers and supervisors, Lower Pottsgrove could need 20 or more units. Shade expects related expenses lie ahead, “and I just wanted to bring the board up to date,” he said.
County Commissioners’ Chairman James Matthews has been blunt about the upgrade cost. He’s already proposed that municipalities pay an as-yet-undetermined share. “I would be loathe to incur all the cost of this for the county,” The Reporter quoted Matthews as saying. “There has to be some cost sharing.”
Matthews hopes to schedule a meeting this month for police, first responders and municipal representatives to discuss their options, according to The Reporter, and he suggested a 12-year bond as one way to finance purchases.
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of May 2):
- Township Likely Faces Costs As Dispatch Radios Change
- Former Commissioner Seeks Warrants On Township Web
- Blue-Light Special: Tax Refund Due For Sanatoga K-Mart
- Stop Sign May Be Answer For Pruss Hill Road Crashes
Photo from KSL.com
I worked in Technical Services of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. We issued the latest in Digital Radios to our supported field agents. None of those radios even approached the 5 to 7 Thousand dollar range. I suggest that these costs are far above reasonable. I would really like to have someone audit these purchases to determine why these units are so exorbitantly expensive and who is getting “residuals” from their purchase.
Radio equipment has a lot of slush built into it. With a huge purchase as described a considerable discount can be forthcoming if negotiated for effectively and honestly.
The other aspect of this is to not get locked into a given vendor’s wares by virtue of unique features only one supplier can provide. Purchasing from the GSA system would also assure costs are acceptable.
This pricing smells to me.