Law Enforcement Agencies Consider Joint Communications System

Tools

By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Jun 15, 2009 at 5:27 PM CST

Story Updated: Jun 15, 2009 at 5:27 PM CST

CEDAR RAPIDS - Communication is key in an emergency. Right now, the Linn County Sheriff's office, the Cedar Rapids Police and the Marion Police can not directly talk to each other on the same system. But now all three agencies support a multi-million dollar plan to fix that

Linn County and Cedar Rapids have already agreed to put money toward a study of the area's law enforcement communication systems. Marion will discuss the issue this week. Law enforcement officials say now is the perfect time to get all three systems to talk to each other.

Linn County Sheriff's department dispatchers handle just about every emergency that happens in the county. But, incidents in Cedar Rapids or Marion are much harder to track. "Right now, we have no idea what Cedar Rapids is doing. We have some idea what Marion is doing because we have a scanner that anybody could buy in some of our cars," said Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner.

Linn County, Cedar Rapids and Marion law enforcement are pushing for a new system that will allow all three emergency radio and dispatch systems to talk to each other instantly. Marion Police Lieutenant Doug Slagle tells TV9, "This is described as a perfect storm, an opportunity. Cedar Rapids is upgrading theirs, we are looking to upgrade and so is Linn County."

If approved all three agencies will still have their own independent emergency dispatch centers, but they will use the same technology and software. Gardner says, "It would improve communications. It would seemlessly allow us to talk back and forth to each other."

Last year's flood knocked out both Cedar Rapids' 911 center and the Sheriff Department's 911 center. That's one key reason why law enforcement officials don't want to house everyone in one building. "If you build one center, you're susceptible to natural disasters or other issues that might plague the system," Slagle added.

Now, all three communities just need to find a way to pay for a new system. A new system could cost anywhere from twelve to fifteen million dollars. It would likely take about three to five years to get everything installed and working.

Right now, all three communities are simply talking about paying for a firm to study what it would take to get all three systems to work together.

E-mail Mark Geary at Mark.Geary@kcrg.com or follow him on Twitter.

Next Article Ferentz Names Phil Parker as New Defensive Coordinator

Conversation Guidelines

Be Kind

Don't use abusive, offensive, threatening, racist, vulgar or sexually-oriented language.
Don't attack someone personally. Keep it civil and be responsible.

Share Knowledge

Be truthful. Share what you know and what you are passionate about.
What more do you want to learn? Keep it simple.

Stay focused

Promote lively and healthy debate. Stay on topic. Ask questions and give feedback on the story's topic.

Report Trouble

Help us maintain a quality comment section by reporting comments that are offensive. If you see a comment that is offensive, or you feel violates our guidelines, simply click on the "x" to the far right of the comment to report it.

read the full guidelines here »

Commenting will be disabled on stories dealing with the following subject matter: Violent crime, sexual abuse, Amber Alerts, Operation Quickfinds and suicides.