Posted by News on 1/27/2008, 1:59 pm
Pottawattamie County officials will meet today with a manufacturer to go over final details for a new 911 radio communications system.
Currently, Pottawattamie County cannot talk to Council Bluffs or Carter Lake on the same police channel, and none can talk with Nebraska agencies.
"If it wasn't such a life-threatening issue, you would laugh at the way it was put together," Pottawattamie County Board member Loren Knauss said.
The new 800-megahertz equipment will allow law enforcement and emergency agencies in the metropolitan area to communicate with one another on both sides of the Missouri River.
Council Bluffs Police Chief Keith Mehlin said situations that require assistance of more than one jurisdiction come up every now and then.
"We have a channel that we can talk on to Omaha's helicopter, but not on the ground," Mehlin said. "We used to be able to listen to them, but not talk to them ... We've managed to get along with no one being seriously injured."
Today's meeting is intended to make sure both sides' expectations are the same.
"With a project this big, you want to make sure every 't' is crossed and every 'i' is dotted," said John Reynolds, a Pottawattamie County sheriff's lieutenant who is spearheading the effort for the county.
Expected to attend the meeting will be Reynolds, one or two Pottawattamie County Board members, Sheriff Jeff Danker, the county's project consultant and representatives from Motorola Inc.
Danker said the new 800-megahertz system will make a huge difference. Currently, Pottawattamie County communicates via VHF frequencies, while Council Bluffs and Carter Lake -which can communicate with each other -are on UHF.
"Our radio system has so many dead spots out in the county," Danker said. "Sometimes we can't call back to the communications center, and that can make it real dangerous at times. This will make a big difference in reliability."
Reynolds said the communication problem is irritating when officers need to collaborate.
"We could be driving door to door next to an Omaha (police) cruiser and not be able to communicate," Reynolds said.
The total project cost, which includes building some new towers and upgrading others, is expected to be $8 million. Douglas County and Omaha switched to a similar Motorola-built system about three years ago.
"The contracts were signed in December, and now there are a few final details to be cleared up," Reynolds said. "We hope to have it up and running before the end of the year."
Law enforcement agencies aren't the only beneficiaries of the upgrade, said Knauss, the county board member.
"Fire services are also included," Knauss said. "So in an emergency like a tornado, everyone can go to one channel," Knauss said.
Once the design is approved, Reynolds said, the next step would be to build the system in Schaumburg, Ill., where Motorola is based.
"Once we go there and make sure it works, we will accept the system, and it will be ready to go," he said.
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