in reality the digital public safety radio systems are pretty much the most up to date and modern two way radio systems in the United States)))
P25 has been around since 1989. Not exactly cutting edge.
((( and I would think the citizens of St Augustine and St Johns would want the very best for their public safety personal.)))
If given the choice, I'm pretty sure being the budget hawks that most of that county is, would not want the government to spend money unnecessarily. Or accept federal dollars and (GASP!) run up the national debt. At the very least, I'm pretty sure they would rather not have county workers furloughed or public safety workers never hired in the first place because they ran up a debt buying toys.
(((The overall radio coverage is excellent and the hardware is very reliable PROVIDED it is well maintained.)))
So are analogue systems, by the way.
((( And I am aware of several jurisdictions with populations of less than 100K that use digital trunked systems so the relative population of SJC should not be an issue. )))
Well of course the main issue is they spent money don't don't have. They bought more radio system than they need seeing as how St. Augustine a small town in a large county that is mostly marshes, large agricultural tracts, swampland and alligators.
(((Inter-operability with other jurisdictions (Clay, Duval, the Cites of St Augustine and St Augustine Beach) is the priority and seamless communication is vital. )))
Well, actually, no. It isn't vital.
And even if it was, they've always had interoperability on VHF mutual aid frequencies. It's not like they're going to be getting rid of
those radios.
(((However the adoption of digital public safety communications should not be seen as an opportunity for the total encryption of all public safety communications. )))
Oh but that's vital.
Encryption keeps us safe from terrorists.
(((Routine service calls for Police and Fire/EMS should remain open simply because the public has a right to be aware of what is “going on” Besides there are many other means to privately communicate by either using encrypted operation channels or by smart phone technology. )))
Once you let the genie out of the bottle with these radio systems, you can't put it back in. You want digital, then digital you shall have.
The cops aren't going to go back to using their cell phones now.
(((Encryption adds an extra expense to each radio)))
Very little and a lot of times it's being thrown in for free with purchase of a multi-million dollar trunking system as a part of Motorola's annual encrypt-a-thon sales event.
((( However the real reason in many cases is that the local police chief or Sherriff does not want embarrassing communications monitored by the press or citizens. These embarrassments often are as simple as an officer getting lost in route to a call, an EMS unit taking too long to respond to an emergency or personnel just joking or fooling around. )))
You made it clear that you think this personnel deserves the "most modern" radio system money can buy and now it sounds like you're saying they're just going to be "fooling around" on it anyway. There's a reason most parents who can afford to, don't buy their 16 year old kids a real fast car with a powerful engine. Because they know once they find out what it can do, it's gonna turn out badly. You can't blame the people who use the encrypted radios anymore than you can blame a kid for wrapping their new corvette around a tree.
((( However please, do not encrypt the Saint John’s County Public Safety Radio System simply because Duval County (Jacksonville) does so to their system and what has that proven anyway?)))
If you don't want them to encrypt, you should have attended the meetings when they were talking about buying a DTRS.
((( Instead look at the places that do not encrypt, LA and LA County, Chicago, and NYC. PG County MD and Richmond VA. These places are not afraid to let their citizens know what is going on!)))
You don't seem to understand the difference between the mentality of the Good Ol' Boys in the rural small towns versus the mentality of those in the big cities. Interesting how some of the most heavily populated cities in the country such as LA, which you meantioned and Chicago and NYC which you also mentioned, that they haven't gone to the same kind of radio system that St. Johns County felt was so important to have. St Johns county is surrounded by vast swampland and ocean. LA on the other hand, numerous other jurisdictions to interoperate with and they seem to be doing just fine with what they've got. Best of all, nobody in LA is complaining about not being about to hear police dispatch because it's encrypted. Of course it's also nice when you have a lot more people who care enough and demand accountability and transparency in government and a lot of these small towns just don't have that. Particularly (but not exclusively) in the south.