From the News Press September 19, 2007
A $6 million grant from the federal government, obtained by the Cape Coral Police Department, is going to help streamline communication between all Lee County emergency crews from Cape Coral, to Bonita Springs, to Lehigh, to Fort Myers, and improve response times.
"We're going to have a better, more reliable system that won't have to come from local taxes," Cape Coral police Chief Rob Petrovich said. "It's a win-win all the way around."
The total cost for the digital system, which will have communication access throughout the county using a series of towers, is going to be about $8 million, so what's not covered by the grant will be covered by the county.
It's something the county had been planning to fix for quite some time, especially in places like Sanibel and Pine Island, where "dead zones" are more likely to be, said county communications supervisor Andy Stadtler.
This particular system will not affected 911 emergency calls.
Cape Coral was specifically chosen by the Department of Justice to apply for this grant after grantwriter Cindy Dennison collaborated with the county and other agencies to identify the regional need. It was the largest grant ever received by the department.
"For a community this size, it's a pretty rare occurrence," Dennison said of the size of the award.
One of the big problems the county has tried to fix is dropped calls because of "dead zones," Stadtler said.
"Sometimes calls can't get through, and it can take three or four minutes before you can get a voice channel," Stadtler said. "That's the worst-case scenario."
Sanibel Fire Chief Danny Duncan said many of his problems come in situations where mutual aid is required. Crews have to manually switch channels when they enter another district.
"It doesn't have the range because we operate off a different tower entirely," Duncan said. "It's kind of complicated to switch depending on what radio you've got."
Certain channels also can jam up if there are too many callers trying to use it at once. Because Lee has grown exponentially in recent years, the number of emergency responders using the system has also ballooned.
The new system will solve these issues by creating more channels and digitalizing them so they will change automatically when a crew is driving from one area to another. It should also decrease response times — something every department tries to keep at below five minutes, Stadtler said.
Stadtler and Michael Bridges, the county's deputy director of public safety, estimated the first changes will happen in Cape Coral and Pine Island by December 2008. That will be the first phase of the project. The rest of the county will follow in an additional two phases that should be completed by 2010.
A $6 million grant from the federal government, obtained by the Cape Coral Police Department, is going to help streamline communication between all Lee County emergency crews from Cape Coral, to Bonita Springs, to Lehigh, to Fort Myers, and improve response times.
"We're going to have a better, more reliable system that won't have to come from local taxes," Cape Coral police Chief Rob Petrovich said. "It's a win-win all the way around."
The total cost for the digital system, which will have communication access throughout the county using a series of towers, is going to be about $8 million, so what's not covered by the grant will be covered by the county.
It's something the county had been planning to fix for quite some time, especially in places like Sanibel and Pine Island, where "dead zones" are more likely to be, said county communications supervisor Andy Stadtler.
This particular system will not affected 911 emergency calls.
Cape Coral was specifically chosen by the Department of Justice to apply for this grant after grantwriter Cindy Dennison collaborated with the county and other agencies to identify the regional need. It was the largest grant ever received by the department.
"For a community this size, it's a pretty rare occurrence," Dennison said of the size of the award.
One of the big problems the county has tried to fix is dropped calls because of "dead zones," Stadtler said.
"Sometimes calls can't get through, and it can take three or four minutes before you can get a voice channel," Stadtler said. "That's the worst-case scenario."
Sanibel Fire Chief Danny Duncan said many of his problems come in situations where mutual aid is required. Crews have to manually switch channels when they enter another district.
"It doesn't have the range because we operate off a different tower entirely," Duncan said. "It's kind of complicated to switch depending on what radio you've got."
Certain channels also can jam up if there are too many callers trying to use it at once. Because Lee has grown exponentially in recent years, the number of emergency responders using the system has also ballooned.
The new system will solve these issues by creating more channels and digitalizing them so they will change automatically when a crew is driving from one area to another. It should also decrease response times — something every department tries to keep at below five minutes, Stadtler said.
Stadtler and Michael Bridges, the county's deputy director of public safety, estimated the first changes will happen in Cape Coral and Pine Island by December 2008. That will be the first phase of the project. The rest of the county will follow in an additional two phases that should be completed by 2010.
