Monday, January 12, 2004

Emergency radio upgrade due

By JEANNINE KORANDA of the East Oregonian
jkoranda@eastoregonian.com


CSEPP plans to install a 450 megahertz radio system in Umatilla and Morrow counties that could eventually replace much of the old-style VHS radio communication system. The new system will revolutionize communications for northeast Oregon police and fire agencies, but there are some hurdles to overcome.

The radio system will allow for increased communication traffic and a larger amount of information to be transmitted in case of emergencies.

Once it’s on line, which is expected to happen this spring, the 450 mHz radio system is going to allow increased communications between law enforcement officials and first responders, such as fire departments. Unfortunately, it won’t entirely replace the old radio system used by police and firefighters in south Umatilla and Morrow County.

While the system works great in the north half of the counties, in the south where the terrain is mountainous the system runs into problems, said Morrow County Sheriff Verlin Denton.

“Some of the county is mountainous and the south end particularly would have to put a repeater on virtually every mountain to get service,” he said.

He estimated that the 450 mHz system should cover about three-fourths of Morrow County, adding, “we won’t know until we get it up and operational.”

While the system was funded by money from the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Plan, the relays in the southern part of the county would be the county’s responsibility, Denton said.

Additionally, the county has mutual-aid agreements with surrounding counties, which still operate under the county’s old VHS radio system, Denton said.

That doesn’t mean the department isn’t looking forward to the new system, he said. “It is virtually state of the art and will be able to do a lot of things that we are eagerly looking forward to,” he said.

For example the new system will allow the patrol cars to carry a system so officers will be able to run Department of Motor Vehicle checks on cars from their car computers and will pull up photos of the driver, he said. Currently, they have to radio dispatch to run the checks.

“It’s a good deal, no two ways about it, because it is not something that the counties are able to do on their own, it is too expensive for us to get into,” Denton said.

But it does have some issues and limitations in rural areas, he added.

Having a dual radio system — the new megahertz system and the old VHS system — also means patrol cars will need new consoles to carry the additional equipment. Law enforcement agencies are asking CSEPP to help with that expense.

“It looks like we are going to be able to manage that ... I think they found the money,” Denton said.

The new consoles cost $250 to $300 per vehicle, and Morrow County is looking at putting the system in 10 cars and a few search and rescue vehicles, he said. The $3,000 or more that will cost is not in the normal sheriff department budget.

Hermiston Police Chief Dan Coulombe said his department would likely keep both systems until it knew the 450 mHz system was fully operational, then phase out the older system. Mountainous terrain is not an issue in the Hermiston area.

Like Morrow County, Umatilla County has mutual-aid agreements with surrounding counties, Umatilla County Sheriff John Trumbo said. He estimated it would be five or six years before Umatilla County used the 450 mHz system exclusively.

Projects like the 450 mHz radio system are a great deal for the county, he said. Without CSEPP the radio system might just be a far-off dream.

Like Morrow County, Trumbo said Umatilla County is also looking to get the mobile data transfer systems, which will allow officers to check vehicle records from their cars.

The system, “opens up a multitude of doors, but the first step in this is the 450 megahertz system,” he said.

Trumbo was unsure how the hilly southern end of Umatilla County would effect the new radio system.