Pennsylvania Fire and Police Chiefs Push for New Radios

The radios just aren't working anymore. The system is more than 30-years-old, practically obsolete. Equipment is being patched together with parts found on eBay.

There are daily failures. Police have lost communication while chasing suspects. Firefighters have lost contact when responding to a burning house. Consider the implications.

"What happens when the firefighter has fallen through the floor and he's stuck, up to his elbows, and can't get help?" asked Robert Cullison, president of the Adams County Fire Police Inc. "Eventually, he's going to fall through."

Adams County fire and police chiefs gathered Monday night to show support for the purchase of a $25 million digital radio system.

The former county commissioners spent four years and were unable to finalize the project. Now, the newly elected commissioners have about a week to map out a funding plan.

After the Jan. 25 deadline, the commissioners can't reopen the budget and the project could be set back more than a year. Furthermore, price quotes will expire, and with the price rising for steel needed to build radio towers, a new system could cost millions more if the deadline is missed.

Still, it won't be an easy decision, emergency responders admitted. Most of the commissioners ran on a platform of no new tax increases but that may be the only way to pay for a new system. The commissioners could take out a bond, too, and they've been meeting with financial advisors to consider the options.

"The problem is the commissioners are up against a wall. They've got to say 'go' or 'no go,'" said Chief Richard Hileman II of the Carroll Valley Borough Police. "We need people to understand this is the right thing to do."

During the meeting, emergency responders from more than a dozen municipalities in Adams County discussed ways to inform the citizens of the urgent need for the new system. Newspaper advertisements, letters to the editor, posters, even bumper stickers were all pitched as ways to encourage support.

"Bottom line is we want everybody to come home at the end of the day," said Allen Baldwin, chief of the Gettysburg Fire Dept. "Right now, it's only a matter of time before we have a communication issue and close call. We need people to understand how important this is." The former commissioners missed a purchase deadline last month because they were unable to settle on a way to pay for the $25 million system.

Motorola Solutions Inc. is supplying the radio system itself for a cost of $18 million. The rest of the cost is going to Alcatel-Lucent, which is handling the microwave system used in connecting signals, and J&G Contracting Co., which is the tower contractor. A price has been nailed down. The system is designed. All that's missing is a funding plan.

Cullison says the current system is little better than the CB radios used decades ago. He says failing equipment endangers both emergency responders and the people they're trying to save.

"How can you put a price on a human life?" he asked.

IF YOU GO:

The Adams County Commissioners are expected to discuss plans to purchase a $25 million digital radio system during a public meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the historic courtroom of the Adams County Courthouse, 111 Baltimore St., Gettysburg.