New radios for county law enforcement

New radios for county law enforcement

Upgraded communication system will replace outdated equipment for Sheriff’s Office, 911 center

news@theeveningtimes.com

Crittenden County will be replacing its aging radio communications system with a statewide network compatible system that will allow them to get better reception in the county and still be able to talk to other local law enforcement departments.

The Quorum Court OK’d spending $800,000 to purchase an AWIN (Arkansas Wireless Information Network) Migration system from Motorola Solutions.

County E911 Director Ronnie Sturch told the Court that the current system is over 20 years old and had reached the end of its lifespan.

“It’s a Motorola system but its now outdated and we are starting to have issues,” Sturch said.

Sturch said the current system is so old that they can’t even get parts to service it.

“Motorola makes parts for ten years,” Sturch said.

“They support it for 15 years. We are having to get parts off eBay when they come to service it.”

The county will get all new vehicle mounted radios and portable hand held radios that will get better reception and allow them to communicate with over 900 local, state, and federal agencies who are all on AWIN.

Sheriff Mike Allen said AWIN is used by most law enforcement and emergency management agencies across the state.

“It’s a top of the line system and one that we can integrate with other organizations,” Allen said.

Allen said being on the AWIN system also gives them more cell towers which provides a better signal. Motorola has over 100 AWIN towers in Arkansas.

“We tested it with our tower at Shell Lake and it was awesome,” Allen said.

“You can be on one of those hand held radios in Little Rock and the signal is crystal clear. With this system we will be able to communicate off more towers now.”

Allen said the old Motorola system was excellent and has held up well, but like any new technology, it is time to upgrade the equipment.

“Its been a good system,” Allen said. “But it’s kind of like cell phones. Every so often you have to upgrade whether you like it or not.

I’m very pleased with it.”

Sturch assured the Court that there will be no additional costs to be on AWIN and that the dispatch center will still be able to communicate with every local emergency and law enforcement department in the county.

“Earle won’t have to go out and buy all new radios,” Sturch said. “They can stay on the same radios and we will be able to talk to them.”

The county will make a $200,000 down payment on the system and finance the rest under a lease purchase agreement.

“I definitely want to see them get this,” said County Judge Woody Wheeless, who is also Fire Chief in Marion. “And I want to thank Ronnie for all his hard work on this.”

By Mark Randall