Atlanta City Council to vote on $40M Digital System

[gatorhater]

Atlanta Council to vote on $40M radio system

By ERIC STIRGUS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/12/07

The Atlanta City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on a $40 million digital radio system city officials say will improve communications within Atlanta's emergency service agencies and with those in surrounding areas.

City officials believe the new system will help Atlanta police avoid some of the problems encountered in the early moments after the March 11, 2005 Fulton County courthouse shootings, when more than a half-dozen law enforcement agencies couldn't talk to each other on their police radios as they pursued suspect Brian Nichols.

"They couldn't communicate with us. We couldn't communicate with them," Councilwoman Cleta Winslow, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee, said at a Wednesday meeting of the Finance Committee where the plan was unveiled.

The digital communications system, called Astro Project 25, is designed by Motorola. Cobb County police use the system, and it will soon be used by police in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties.

Luz Borrero, Atlanta's deputy chief operating officer, said the system also will help police better communicate with the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, which has an older communications system.

Atlanta officials want to pay for the new system through a 10-year lease-purchase program.

Some council members questioned the wisdom of spending $40 million on the system.

Councilman Kwanza Hall argued at Wednesday's committee meeting that the city would be better off using the money to hire more police officers. Atlanta is struggling to hire more officers as the city's year-to-date crime rate is up 10 percent over the same period in 2006.

"Why aren't we focused on getting more officers trained?" Hall asked. "It seems our priorities aren't in the right direction."

Borrero said the upgrade is necessary. She warned the current system may not work properly when the city's Police Department moves out of its headquarters at City Hall East in 2009.

"We don't have an alternative to provide the tools for our Fire Department and police to communicate," Borrero told Hall.



Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/10/12/atlcouncil_1015_web.html

 

[b7spectra]

No one in Metro Atlanta apparently has heard of the ITAC channels. Think of the millions of dollars Motherola would lose if everyone used ITAC instead of switching to P25 for interoperability!

 

[Stavro35]

ITAC Vs new digital system.

No one in Metro Atlanta apparently has heard of the ITAC channels. Think of the millions of dollars Motherola would lose if everyone used ITAC instead of switching to P25 for interoperability!

Interesting that you bring this fact up. In Glynn county they at least have mutual aide talkroups that can and are used .At least they were when I lived there. Here in Washington state we have several agencies that use a common talkgroup or frequency. Eh but what's $40 million dollars to tax payers that don't know any better?

Most of the non scannning public thinks all we do is listen to cell phones anyway.

 

[CSHIFTLT]

M/A Com and Johnson make p25 systems, and they do not cost near as much.

 

[N_Jay]

No one in Metro Atlanta apparently has heard of the ITAC channels. Think of the millions of dollars Motherola would lose if everyone used ITAC instead of switching to P25 for interoperability!

That makes no sense.

Having interoperability channels and having interoperable systems fill two different pieces of the whole problem. One is not a replacement for the other.

The use of P25 has many good reasons besides interoperability.

 

[N_Jay]

M/A Com and Johnson make p25 systems, and they do not cost near as much.

The cost of the system is much more closely related to its size and complexity then the brand.

Similar systems from any manufacturer will be of a similar cost.

 

[N_Jay]

Does anyone know if the system has been bid yet?
Is this the approval to go out to bid, or the approval to complete a contract already structured?
Are they using a procurement method other than a bid (add-on contract, etc.)?

 

[b7spectra]

Unfortunately in the Metro Atlanta area, there are way too many chefs and not enough cooks. In reference to the incident in question (the courthouse shooting), who in the hell is going to be the actual coordinator of an interoperability? Atlanta? Fulton County? Any other agency? Which chef is going to be in charge of all the cooks? Fun part comes when two different agencies start talking to each other - codes and signals don't always match up. Try and get them to talk in plain english. It's easy for all of us arm chair quarterbacks to sit back and say this is the way it should be done, and for the politicians to be wined and dined by the radio providers, all the time while it's the people on the beat who should be able to have some say so in what is going on.

 

[CSHIFTLT]

The cost of the system is much more closely related to its size and complexity then the brand.

Similar systems from any manufacturer will be of a similar cost.

1/4 off Moto price is not similar,(moto 40 million vs. other vendor 30 million) also a huge factor is who engineers it, the company bidding or a third party....moto always replaces everything even if they have hard infastructure in place.....(towers etc.)

 

[b7spectra]

...moto always replaces everything even if they have hard infastructure in place.....(towers etc.)

BIGGEST waste of money ever!

 

[gatorhater]

Update:

Officials: New radio system would aid emergency units
City Council hears pitch for $41.6 million digital upgrade

By ERIC STIRGUS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/29/07

Atlanta officials made a two-hour pitch Monday to City Council members that a new $41.6 million radio system will help authorities communicate better with police and fire officials across the region.

The city wants the council to approve a 10-year lease with Motorola to replace Atlanta's 12-year-old analog system with a digital system being used in Cobb County. The Motorola system is being installed in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties.

Some council members peppered officials with questions about the system's long-term effectiveness, considering the lightning-quick pace of changes in technology.

"Ten years is a long time," Councilwoman Anne Fauver said during the meeting attended by Motorola officials.

City officials said Motorola will provide system upgrades during the life of the proposed lease. They said the upgrade is necessary because the current system may not work effectively when the Police Department moves from its current headquarters.

City officials also believe the new system will help Atlanta police avoid some of the problems encountered in the early moments after the March 11, 2005, courthouse shootings, when more than a half-dozen law enforcement agencies couldn't talk with each other on their police radios as they pursued suspect Brian Nichols.

"We must do this system. We have no alternatives," Atlanta deputy chief operating officer Luz Borrero told council members. "This system is critical to our public safety and operating system department."

City Council members may vote on the system next week.



Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/me...ouncil_1030.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

 

[ButchGone]

wow!

The GEWIN system that is now installed statewide in all county dispatch centers (Motobridge) is designed to link different systems together. So 911 centers can link VHF/UHF/800MHz and digital systems together with anyone else in the state - they don't need to spend tens of millions of dollars to have "interoperability" or buy new trunked systems. With a few mouse touches and keystrokes on consoles agencies can quickly be linked together anywhere in the state. This whole "interoperability" thing has gotten out of hand with agencies now picthing new systems every ten years. For decades in Georgia there were interoperable networks available to just about everyone in the state: 154.905, 154.935, 155.370, 155.475, 155.340, 155.280, 154.280 and ten UHF Med channels in every EMS unit. And how many times do agencies need to talk to several counties at once? Maybe once in a few years? So if everybody now has to spend tens of millions of dollars to talk to the guys across the street, why in the hell did the state spend tens of millions of dollars on Motobridge? Does that not work now? The VHF-UHF frequencies also did not have issues with interference from Nextel towers and radios don't need "rebanding." It's all a crock and wasting your money.
Amateur radio operators have linked repeater systems around cities and around the southeast that cost fractions less and are very reliable.
My two bits worth.
BG..

 

[Rehab880]

Cobb County Fire does use ITAC.

Every XTS 5000 has ITAC 4 on it. Every company must keep 1 radio on ITAC 4 at all times. Command 900's apparatus has all 5 ITAC channels.

COLLAPSE

 

[N8IAA]

Amateur radio operators have linked repeater systems around cities and around the southeast that cost fractions less and are very reliable.
My two bits worth.
BG..

ButchGone, that is logical. States, Counties, and Cities do not use common sense or logic. It is how deep and full their pockets become;>)
Amateur radio is linked world wide on D-Star. I can talk to Australia if I wanted on a handheld radio. It is digital and inexpensive. Motherola owns an enourmous amount of spectrum and must use it or lose it. Most PS had good systems, they just needed to be upgraded technology-wise. $$$$$ speak volumes, the local and state governments must get the supposedly interop systems or not get any HS $$$$. Thus , commercial radio companies are reaping a windfall.

Larry

 

[AerialEars]

I also think it's a lot of keeping up with the neighbors. "Oh, you have a new digital system, so I have to have one too, even though my analog system works perfectly and fills every need."