County will spend $41K on contractor to help improve new emergency radio system

Complaints from law enforcement and fire personnel about the new Harris radio system have gone way down over the past several months, Undersheriff Bill Sharon said, but there are still issues that need to be addressed.

To that end, the Public Service Committee is recommending the County Legislature approve a $41,000 contract with Pericle Communications Co., of Colorado Springs, Colo., to conduct a transmission interference study and make recommendations for improvements.

The aim of the study will be to identify what might exist in the county that causes interference with transmissions, either it's light bars on emergency vehicles or power plants, and recommend the best methods for eliminating those problems.

"As mentioned before, we didn't have the luxury of fully testing the system before we went live because of the time constraints we were under," Sheron said. "We've winnowed those problems down one-by-one-by-one and our complaints are minimal now. There are some lingering complaints, like our coverage area in Le Roy, and I'd say that's probably the top of the list right now."

Steve Sharpe, director of emergency communications, said among the interference issues Pericle will study are related to police and fire personnel inside of buildings.

The measure of adequate coverage is no more than a 10-decibel drop in the transmission inside of a structure, which is about what you would expect inside a two-story, wood-framed house with a shingle roof. The old system only had a bit more than 70-percent coverage by that standard. The new system is in the 90-percent range, but can be improved, Sharpe said.

Sheron noted that there were quite a few problems with the old system, but nobody ever complained because responders had learned to adjust to those issues. While the new system has room for improvement, it is an upgrade over the old system, he said, and no communications system will provide 100-percent coverage 100 percent of the time.

While some of the interference problems officers and firefighters experience might be isolated to small areas or specific circumstances, there are larger areas in Le Roy where Harris radios go dead.

Legislator Shelly Stein, who represents Le Roy, said she's been following the issue closely, joining meetings with the E-911 Board, Harris and the consultants, and advocating on behalf of her first responders.

She's confident things are moving in a positive direction.

"When the county moved us over to countywide dispatch, not all of the feet were pointed in the same direction," Stein said. "Today, everybody wants this to work. Our desire is to make this work for everybody. It's right at the focal point of every one of our discussions."