Mill Creek Park weighs cost, safety in replacing police radios

By Elise Franco

efranco@vindy.com

Youngstown

Outdated radio equipment could become a financial burden and is a potential safety problem for the Mill Creek MetroParks Police Department.

Jim Willock, MetroParks police chief, said the department’s radio frequency is on a channel close to those of other park departments, causing interference.

“Because of that, we have a lot of issues with it,” he said. “There are places around the park with no radio overage, where the officer has to use his cell phone.”

Willock said the Federal Communications Commission is mandating a switch from the current wide-band system to a narrow-band system by 2013. Most public safety radios use 25 kilohertz channels, which will be cut in half, to 12.5 kilohertz on Jan. 1, 2013.

That is one reason Willock said he wants to replace the system entirely instead of fixing the old equipment, which would only be a temporary solution.

“We have to switch anyway,” he said. “And we don’t want to throw away money into something that’s broken.”

Willock said fixing the current equipment would cost between $60,000 and $70,000, and many providers won’t even place a bid because it’s almost impossible to maintain.

“I’ve talked to other vendors about maintaining the current system, and they wouldn’t even touch it,” he said. “They look at it like it’s in such bad shape that they’ll lose money.”

Currently, 34 MetroParks police employees use radios, as well as forestry crews, janitors and groundskeepers.

Replacing the system with new, digital equipment that will meet the FCC mandate will cost about $185,000, Willock said.

He said, however, that spending the money now will put an infrastructure in place that will function for many years to come.

“It’s not a bunch of toys. It’s not like I’m looking for something new just to have it,” he said. “It’s absolutely a long-term investment.”

Interim Executive Director Tom Bresko said Willock presented his idea to the MetroParks Board of Commissioners this month.

Bresko said the board has begun reviewing information on the current system and the new. He said the main concern is the high cost of new equipment.

“It is something that, because of sheer enormity of cost, will have to be budgeted,” he said. “But it’s doable.