[Scan-DC] More SWVa Radio News

[Bruce Harper]

The discussion about Shenandoah sent me looking for this article from the
Roanoke Times from last month, about the switch of the City of Radford
police department to digital radios. The comments from the Montgomery
County (the one in Virginia, where Blacksburg and Virginia Tech are
located) sheriff's department are interesting and true. There are some
spots where radio (and cell) communication is poor or doesn't exist due to
the mountains and hollows that block signals. A study was commissioned and
completed in July, 2009, concerning the consolidation of some or all of the
communications for part of the New River Valley -- Montgomery County, the
towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, the City of Radford, and Virginia
Tech and Radford University (see
http://www.roanoke.com/pdfs/911study_nra.pdf). The results are still under
review by the local governments, although Montgomery County is moving
forward on converting its former courthouse into a public safety building
to provide better facilities for the sheriff's department. Whether the
consolidation (and possible radio changes/upgrades) will happen is still up
in the air.

Bruce in Blacksburg

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Scanner swap: Radford police go digital

Posted December 9, 2012

For almost a month now, Radford residents who monitor police radio traffic
have heard only silence.

Newsrooms in the New River Valley have grown a little quieter.

But within the department, Radford police officers say they are hearing
each other loud and clear – louder and clearer than ever before.

The Radford Police Department is one of the first in the area to switch to
a digital radio system – second only to the Radford University Police
Department.

“Digital transmissions are by nature difficult to overhear or monitor or
listen to with a receiver,” said Henry Henderson with Professional
Communications in Blacksburg.

Professional Communications maintains the radio equipment and 911 systems
for the police departments in the New River Valley. Digital transmissions
are difficult to monitor because there are several digital formats,
Henderson said.

“Some of the digital formats you are able to monitor, but it costs a lot to
buy a receiver that actually does that,” he said. “It’ll cost around $500,
and if you buy it for one format, you’re not necessarily able to use that
for the others.”

Radford Deputy Chief Angie Frye said the inability to be monitored is “an
officer safety benefit” because, for example, individuals who have scanners
in their homes and are about to be served arrest or search warrants can no
longer predict an officer’s movement.

But the real benefit is the improved reception, Chief Don Goodman said.

“We have reception in buildings where we didn’t have it before,” Goodman
said. “It has improved reception all throughout the city, and when we have
good, clear reception, that improves our officers’ safety.”

The switch, however, is costly, which is one of the reasons neighboring
jurisdictions have yet to make a move.

Frye said the department applied for a $210,000 grant from the U.S.
Department of Justice of Community Oriented Policing Services in August
2008 for equipment for the department’s new building, which opened in May
2011.

The department used the grant money to purchase radio system equipment that
would allow for them to remain analog but eventually switch to digital. The
department later paid Professional Communications about $1,500 for the
labor involved in making the switch, which officially happened on Nov. 13,
Frye said.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Bradley St. Clair said the main
reason the sheriff’s office is staying analog – at least for now – is
because of its larger jurisdiction.

“We’re so much more spread out, and with analog, you can go in and out and
sometimes have spotty reception, but with digital, you either have it in an
area or you don’t,” St. Clair said.

St. Clair said he thinks going digital will work well for a smaller city
like Radford. But Montgomery County doesn’t have the infrastructure to go
digital, which is expensive, he added.

“It’s going to be a really good thing for them, but for Montgomery County,
because we’re so much more spread out, we would have to add more tower
sites to go digital,” he said.

Radford police can still easily communicate with other localities by
switching their radios back to analog, Goodman said.

And he said the department will continue to communicate with the community.

“Our job is to keep the community informed of things that go on, and we’re
going to continue to do that,” Goodman said. “We’re not trying to hide
anything.”

But scanners may slowly pick up less and less. Henderson said that
eventually, all departments will make the switch.

“The development of technology is evolving, and going forward, it’s going
to be more difficult to monitor public safety,” Henderson said. “It will
eventually all be digital.”

A representative of the Radford University Police Department could not be
reached for comment about that department’s switch to a digital system.

By Melissa Powell

The Roanoke Times