[Scan-DC] STARS article (Wytheville Enterprise)

[Alan Henney]

Wytheville Enterprise (Virginia)

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News

February 15, 2011 Tuesday

State Police get new dispatch program

BYLINE: Amanda Evans, Wytheville Enterprise, Va.

SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS

LENGTH: 551 words

Feb. 15--Jo Ann Chase and Melissa Parsons remember what it was like to scrawl dispatches on pen and paper. They know how frustrating it was to play phone tag with three or four law enforcement agencies at the same time during an emergency. They're experts at deciphering police-speak through scratchy connections and static chatter. 

But those antiquated methods are a thing of the past for these two dispatchers.

Every call to the Virginia State Police is now logged, automated and digitally filed thanks to the upgraded dispatch system, STARS, the Statewide Agencies Radio System, which went live in November.

With an in-bound call invoice of more than 10,000 for the month of January alone, STARS is already going to good use.

"Any time you have a communication circle that's unbroken," Parsons said, "that's a good thing."

STARS is part of a large-scale effort in Virginia--the first in the nation--to streamline communication at all levels of rescue and safety operations.

The biggest advantage of the new system, dispatchers agreed, is interoperability.

"9/11 really taught us a lot," said Sgt. Steve Lowe of the VSP.

He explained that on Sept. 11, all the different rescue divisions operated on different radio channels. There was not one, comprehensive network for all the agencies to communicate.

All that has changed now.

Every state agency that is equipped with this technology can tap into the system.

Dispatchers can streamline calls from the different agencies so everyone is operating in a common group. For major incidents, one channel can be designated for agencies responding to the, freeing the channel of extraneous chatter.

The communication channel is so clear, Lowe said, that when he was in Richmond the other week for a meeting, he could hear troopers in Grayson County responding to a call. Before STARS, Lowe said it was not uncommon for dispatches even within certain parts of Wythe County to be indecipherable.

"The clarity is unbelievable," Lowe said. "It's like they're standing right next to you."

This clarity is vital to trooper safety, said Parsons.

Scanners that operate on analog signals are not able to pick up the digitized, encrypted codes of the STARS radio.

Another protective feature of the system is the ability to privately call the troopers, utilizing codes that even the newest, most advanced scanner technologies will not be able to receive.

Patrol cars are outfitted with a new computer console system that permits them to receive electronic dispatches as well. The PC is able to read the messages out loud to the trooper, allowing the officer to keep his eyes on the road.

Due to the topography of the region, Division 4, which covers 15 counties and three cities in Southwest Virginia, was the last area in Virginia to be outfitted with the technology, said Lowe.

STARS does not replace the old system of dispatch many local sheriff and police departments operate under.

Amanda Evans can be reached at 228-6611 or aevans at wythenews.com

To see more of Wytheville Enterprise or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.swvatoday.com Copyright (c) 2011, Wytheville Enterprise, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com.