Tired of Problems with County’s Radio System, City to Buy Its Own
BY LESLEY TLLEZ, Dallas Morning News
Frustrated by spotty police-radio service, The Colony, Texas is switching systems.
Police Chief Joe Clark said the move is needed because the airwaves of the Denton County Sheriff’s Department system, which The Colony and many other local departments share, have grown too crowded. The result has sometimes been weak radio signals, service disruptions and busy signals when officers try to reach one another. Once, the chief said, a dispatcher had to phone the Fire Department because the radio system was busy.
“The more demand is put on the system, the more it’s going to be a problem for us,” Chief Clark said. In hopes of solving the problem, the City Council recently agreed to let the police get their own system separate from the county’s, which the city has been able to use at no charge. The new $ 364,000 system, to be installed within 90 days, will run on a 450-MHz frequency, just down the dial from the county’s frequency in the 800s.
Mr. Clark said the frequency would better penetrate buildings - solving a frequent problem - but would have slightly poorer sound quality. The new radio system will also let police communicate directly with the public works department, city administrators and the inspections staff. It will be purchased with certificates of obligation, debt instruments that require no election. “This will allow us to have more control over the system,” said City Council member Scott Ward.
“Whenever Denton [County] decides to go to a new system, it shouldn’t force us to have to upgrade with them on their time table.” The city has contracted to use the Sheriff’s Department radio system since 1991. About 15 other police departments and 12 fire departments use the same system.
The county system uses four frequencies; if more than four people need to talk at the same time, someone gets a busy signal. Sheriff’s officials said that has never caused a catastrophe but that busy signals and coverage problems have increased as the area has grown. Denton County Sheriff Department spokesman Kevin Patton said it’s great that The Colony is getting its own system. He agreed that the county’s radio waves have become crowded but said the system has few other faults.
“It’s just that there’s a high volume of activity and you do get a busy signal when you’re transmitting back and forth,” he said. “But as far as technical difficulties and things breaking, that’s not the case."Chief Clark said The Colony plans to use its new system for about 10 years and then upgrade again. Police had hoped to keep a spot in the 800-MHz frequency range used by most North Texas police departments, but there was no room, he said. Chief Clark said officials would still be able to contact other departments through a piece of equipment that patches radio systems together.
“Right now we’re in limbo,” he said, “and this is the only solution that was available to us that was immediate.” Reliable radio communication has been an issue across the country. Rockwall spent nearly $2 million two years ago to create a system separate from the county’s, which had poor signals and limited range. And cellphone towers have caused disruptions in several states, sometimes leaving officers in jeopardy.