Fifteen years ago, the Kent County Dispatch Authority was formed. It’s mission: to consolidate the county’s 10 dispatch centers providing more effective and efficient services.
“And then last year we went live with the police and fire radios on the 800-megahertz system.”
All-digital replacing the outdated analog system. Mark Herald is Kent County Dispatch Authority Chair. He says 5,000 radios have transitioned to it.
In 2016 voter-approved a surcharge that’s funding the $25.7 million system. It operates seamlessly on a single platform. The final step is implementing pagers used by 28 county fire departments. A number of those are in rural townships with few, if any, full-time firefighters. Most are part-time or volunteers.
“And the reason the pager’s important is because they’re not all at the station. So, if a fire call comes in in an outlying township, they have to utilize the pagers to notify the firefighter when and where to go.”
Kent County’s digital system utilizes 12 transmission locations and includes two 911 dispatch centers. The digital platform is encrypted. It provides better reception, coverage and can better penetrate concrete buildings.
