The Carroll Police Department will be the beneficiaries of an E911 grant that will save them more than $80,000 on the cost of replacing vehicle and portable radios. Chief, Brad Burke, says the state of Iowa is transitioning to a 700 megahertz digital system.
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Locally, a new tower has been erected on the west side of Carroll at the Department of Transportation (DOT) station, but the equipment is not installed yet. The current timeline, Burke says, would bring the new service into use in the summer of 2018, but that target remains fluid for now. Burke says they will be purchasing six Motorola APX7500 P25 mobile radios and 15 Motorola APX8000 P25 portable radios through the Carroll County Joint E911 Service Board. The new digital set up will provide a broader range of service for law enforcement.
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Burke adds the current portable radios are about 15 years old, if not more, and the fire department radios are even older than that. Once they get their new radios in, they will be giving the portables to the fire department and the in-car radios will either be scrapped or saved as spares. The new digital radio grant program is expected to roll out to other emergency responders in phases, with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) being next in line after law enforcement and fire departments after that. Burke says it could be between five and 10 years before all agencies are fully equipped.