County eyes new radio system
New radios would impact small fire, police agencies
BENTONVILLE — Benton County officials see the benefits of a new emergency radio and dispatch system, but a change could create problems for other police and fire departments in the county.
Benton County Sheriff Shawn Holloway is asking the Quorum Court to spend nearly $5 million for a new system for the Sheriff’s Office and jail, the Road Department, emergency services, the Coroner’s Office and the county’s rural fire service, which will distribute the equipment among the county’s smaller fire departments.
The county would buy seven new consoles for the county’s dispatch center, along with 356 mobile radios for county vehicles, 601 portable radios for individuals and 175 pagers for the rural fire departments.
Benton County would also buy 27 mobile radios and 27 portable radios for city fire departments that operate county-owned fire apparatus.
The new radios would not cover the needs of fire and police departments in the smaller cities. The smaller cities would need to buy all new radios and equipment to be compatible with the new county system, said Capt. Kenny Paul of the Sheriff’s Office.
“We’re not going to run both systems,” Paul said. “There’s not going to be an option once we turn the system on.”
County Judge Barry Moehring told the justices of the peace Tuesday the cities have been informed of the county’s plans.
“They’re not necessarily thrilled with it,” he said.
Each new mobile radio costs about $1,295, according to information presented to the Quorum Court’s Finance Committee. Each portable radio costs about $995. Pagers cost about $695 each.
The costs vary for the cities affected depending on the number of radios needed. Pea Ridge would need $60,255 for its fire department and $41,220 for its police department. Centerton would need $58,280 for its fire department and $68,700 for its police department.
Pea Ridge Mayor Jackie Crabtree said his city has been involved in talks with the county, and he understands the county’s needs. Crabtree said his replacing all of the police and fire department radios at one time is not a part of his normal budget.
“That’s going to be incredibly hard to come up with,” he said of the estimated cost for new radios. “We struggle to maintain what we’ve got now. We budget for a few replacement radios as we need to. We just recently bought some new equipment. We bought a certain type of radio thinking that’s what they were going to be using.”
Crabtree said Pea Ridge typically buys three or four new radios “every couple of years as they wear out,” and the radios the city has bought in the past have cost between $800 and $1,000.
Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards said his city will find the money, even if it means borrowing it, to get all of the needed equipment in place. Edwards said he thinks the county could do more for city fire departments, as it has for the rural, volunteer departments.
“We all have fire pagers,” Edwards said. “They’re going to give them to the volunteer departments, but not the city departments. I disagree with that, especially when we respond out into the county. We all have mutual aid agreements, and we respond whenever somebody else needs us.”
Edwards also noted his city’s storm sirens are radioactivated, adding he wants to be certain they will still work with a new system.
The Rogers Police and Fire departments plan to switch to a new system similar to the one Benton County is looking at. The new systems will connect with the communications network established by the state, the Arkansas Wireless Information Network. That system is used by the Arkansas State Police, the state Game and Fish Commission, the Arkansas Trauma System, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well as local police and fire departments.
In Northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville police and fire use the system. Bentonville and Bella Vista operate their own communications systems. Police Chief Hayes Minor said Rogers approved about $3.35 million for a system for the two departments. He said some spare radios will be available for other city departments, like the street department, to use in emergencies. Minor said the system now in use is about 12 years old and needs to be replaced.
Minor said he is impressed with the capabilities of the new system. He said its ability to communicate directly with other agencies and its statewide reach are important.
“To me, it’s a great system, and the more people who get on it, the better it is,” Minor said.
Greg Tabor, Fayetteville police chief, said the entire city communications system switched over to the Arkansas Wireless Information Network system in 2012 at a cost of about $6 million.
“Our old system had some dead spots,” Tabor said. “I’m not going to say it’s 100 percent, but it’s much better coverage than it was.”
Tabor said the statewide reach of the system is also useful.
“I can pick up my radio in Little Rock and talk to someone back here just like I’m sitting in my office,” he said.
Washington County is looking at a new radio system but hasn’t come to any decisions, according to John Luther, the county’s director of emergency services. Luther said his county has been watching what other agencies are doing, and their experiences with new systems will influence Washington County’s decisions. He said the county has some basic criteria to consider.
“We’re in a better position knowing there are alternatives,” Luther said. “We want to be sure that our hand-held radios work. We want to be able to talk to all of our partners. We want to be sure we can afford it, and we want a system that will give us another 15 years of longevity. Those are our goals.”