STONINGTON POLICE JOIN STATE RADIO NETWORK

Stonington — The town celebrated the signing of a memorandum of understanding Thursday that will allow it to become the first municipality in the state to join the Connecticut Land Mobile Radio Network.

On Thursday, Police Chief Darren Stewart and First Selectman Rob Simmons marked the signing of the agreement in Middletown with Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Dora B. Schriro.

The agreement will allow police to communicate directly not only with state police but agencies such as the state department of Energy and Environmental Protection and state Health Department.

In exchange the state will be able to use the police department’s radio tower and antennae sites to enhance its coverage. The state will not charge the town a fee for joining the system.

The agreement comes as the town gets set to spend $1.3 million to replace the police department’s aging radio system. That upgrade will also will allow officers to talk directly to those in other departments. It also will give officers the ability to talk directly to fire departments and ambulance companies.

Police Capt. Todd Olson Olson has said the upgrades provide the “interoperability” between agencies that has become increasingly important with incidents such as school shootings and terrorist attacks happening across the country.