County to get $2.5 million for radios

First-responders in Lonoke County will soon share a state-of-the-art communications system and, best of all, they will not have to share the $2.5 million price tag.  Funds to install the equipment, to tie into the Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN), will come from a grant from the Department of Homeland Security administered through the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, Charlie Troutman, county judge, said.

The award of the funds was confirmed Tuesday, April 27, but the details of the transaction remain to be finalized.  "Oh, I had a lot of ideas of what I could usse that money on, but they told me that was out of my hands; it is for the radio system," he quipped.

Jimmy DePriest, director of the county Office of Emergency Services, said that Lonoke County is one of five counties chosen for the pilot program that will begin the changeover by all counties to the new system. Lonoke County’s size, proximity to Pulaski County, and number of response units played a part in the county’s selection, he said.

Changeover will replace the patchwork of radio systems now used by law enforcement and fire fighting agencies with a single system, DePriest said. “Right now, someone can’t even go between cities and still talk, much less between counties. With this new equipment, someone could go anywhere in the state and be able to tie in,” he said.

Though inherently simple, the system is difficult to explain, DePriest remarked. All the frequencies now being used by response units will be replaced by a single 800-megahertz, digital system. While all agencies will be able to tie together, communication within each department will be uninterrupted by others using the system, he said.
“It sorts it all out, somehow,” DePriest said. “Right now, when the weather is right, we can hear what goes on in the other county [sharing the radio frequency] on that,” he said, motioning to the base station of the county’s radio system, installed in a corner of the county judge’s office.

Local agencies will be able to use AWIN for their daily business without interrupting each other; yet, should the circumstances call for it, each could instantly be part of the larger network, DePriest said. “I will be able speak with any agency in the county, alone, but with the flip of a switch we will all be able put them all on one line,” he said.
The grant even provides for equipping the individual agencies with radios, DePriest said. Every response agency in the county will be included, though separate provisions are being made for ambulance services because they are commercial operations, he said.

Troutman said that he would like to see the system in operation as soon as possible, though it could take some time. “I worry about what is going on in Pine Bluff,” he remarked, referring to the scheduled destruction of chemical weapons stored at the arsenal there.

“That’s a touchy thing that they are doing; they are already behind on what they said their schedule was going to be,” Troutman remarked.
While the delay notes the caution behind the tests of the incinerator, it also underscores the danger of what is being done at the arsenal, Troutman said. If something were to go wrong, the plume could reach Cabot, odors from the paper plant prove that, he remarked.