[Scan-DC] New PG radios for mun PDs

[Alan Henney]

Thanks to Ron Graves for the link:

http://www.gazette.net/stories/01212010/prinnew161431_32548.php

Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010
Municipal police departments get in tune with county, state Federal grant pays for massive radio upgrades
by Andrea Noble | Staff Writer

Twenty-three municipal police departments in Prince George's County received federal money to purchase nearly 400 handheld radios that will enable officers to communicate with all public service agencies in the county, announced Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown on Jan. 14.

A $1.5 million federal grant is paying for the acquisition of the 700 MHz radios. The new countywide radio system will for the first time allow municipal police departments to communicate with county, state and other municipal police departments on the same system. Word that municipal departments will receive help upgrading their systems follows a December announcement that the county's new $80 million radio system was being phased in among the county police department.

"The lifeline for men and women on the street is our ability to communicate," said Riverdale Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers. "This is the first time in my 35th year of policing that we will be able to talk to Prince George's County and also other municipalities."

The money for the radios became available Jan. 14, and municipal departments will now be able to start the process of acquiring the radios.

The Riverdale Park Police Department, which will receive approximately $91,000 in grant funding to purchase 24 radios, served as the backdrop for Brown's announcement.

Without the federal funding, administered through the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention, several municipal leaders said they would not have been able to be in step with the county's upgrades.

"We would not be able to do this kind of thing and buy the radios for many years," said Riverdale Park Mayor Vernon Archer.

Each radio costs $3,796, and municipal departments were allotted funding to buy a certain number of radios based on needs they communicated to the governor's office. Awards ranged from $265,720 for 70 radios for the College Park Police Department to $15,184 to purchase four radios for the Brentwood Police Department.

In the past, radioing a county police officer may have been as complicated as requiring a municipal police officer to radio their dispatch system, who would contact the county's dispatch system, who would contact the county officer, explained Berwyn Heights Police Chief Patrick Murphy. The updated system will streamline the process and allow officers to more quickly communicate reports.

In his own commute to work through Charles County, Murphy said he sees reportable incidents all the time, from suspended license plates to potential domestic violence situations, and often calls them in via cell phone. With a new radio, he will be able to easily call in reports to local police and he believes others will be encouraged to do the same when they commute through Prince George's County.

In addition to allowing better communication among agencies operating within the county, the new radio system will enable emergency dispatchers to track the location of police units through GPS, cut out radio dead spots that plagued responders in the southern part of the county, and enable responders to communicate with police, fire and emergency dispatchers in other counties that switched to the new radios years ago.

"If we respond to help our neighbors we will have seamless communications," said Vernon Herron, the county's public safety director.

Officials said better communication among departments will strengthen relationships and enable them to continue to reduce crime levels in the county. Overall crime in the county dropped 12 percent in 2009, according to the Prince George's County Police Department.

The grant does not pay for the in-car radio systems that many departments also expressed interest in.

The county's radios are still being phased in by police district, said county Deputy Chief Kevin Davis.

"Within a month or two it will be fully operational countywide," he said.

municipalities

Municipal police departments receiving federal grants for 700 MHz handheld radios include:

Berwyn Heights - $34,164

Bladensburg - $75,920

Brentwood - $15,184

Capitol Heights - $45,552

Cheverly - $60,736

College Park - $265,720

Colmar Manor - $22,776

Cottage City - $26,572

District Heights - $56,940

Edmonston - $26,572

Fairmount Heights - $22,776

Forest Heights - $26,572

Glenarden - $41,756

Greenbelt - $204,984

Hyattsville - $136,656

Landover Hills - $26,572

Morningside - $22,776

Mount Rainer - $68,328

New Carrollton - $60,736

Riverdale Park - $91,104

Seat Pleasant - $68,328

University Park - $34,164

Upper Marlboro - $22,776