MontCo upgrades

[cavmedic]

Wich is interesting being as of October everyone had to have their radio orders placed and payments have already started to flow

I wonder who will be on the hook if any additional hardware costs or flash costs will incur because of this late vote ?




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[HM1529]

Wich is interesting being as of October everyone had to have their radio orders placed and payments have already started to flow

I wonder who will be on the hook if any additional hardware costs or flash costs will incur because of this late vote ?




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I don't know how recent the vote was. I only found out about it last week. Just figured I would mention it since there are some people who are only interested in scanning police. I listen to everything.

 

[kh11]

Latest PSN newsletter indicates the new system should come online in August. I was recently told that the county police chief's association voted to have all police talkgroups encrypted (like Berks). So, there's that for people who may have a scanner just to monitor police traffic...may not want to upgrade to a new scanner unless you want to listen to fire/ems.

That mirrors what I had been hearing. Bit of a pain for me as a responder, as I often rely on information from scanning the local police talk groups when I'm responding to incidents. I'd like to see the PD groups added as "listen only" on our county radios, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[kh11]

Wich is interesting being as of October everyone had to have their radio orders placed and payments have already started to flow

I wonder who will be on the hook if any additional hardware costs or flash costs will incur because of this late vote ?

I don't know that there would be any additional costs - I was under the impression that encryption capability for all radios was already included under the contract. I'll have to go back and look at the price lists to see if there was a separate line item.

 

[cavmedic]

It was fairly recent because when I placed orders for our FD , I looked over the PD rode with the township manager and they had the same order sheet and price plan.

I Imagine they maybe had all that taken into account in the original price point and will just use software encryption for that


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[cavmedic]

I don't know that there would be any additional costs - I was under the impression that encryption capability for all radios was already included under the contract.

Well Blutooth capabilities was an additional 300 option but my current 6000 has it already in the flash code but not enabled in the Radio.

But my radio wasn't apart of this order they are placing as it was a prior purchase.


So who knows at this point.

Must be nice to be an organization who can just tell the county what they will do in their sandbox



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[kh11]

Must be nice to be an organization who can just tell the county what they will do in their sandbox

Well, you need to keep in mind 'sandbox' exists because of the users of the system (the 'customers' if you will), and not the other way around. The Police Chiefs Association will naturally tend to have a lot of pull since their departments are the dominant users of the system.

(I believe the meeting where encryption was voted on was in November or December.)

 

[Septa3371CSX1]

Any reasons cited for the encryption besides controlling what gets reported?

 

[kh11]

Any reasons cited for the encryption besides controlling what gets reported?

Not sure what you mean - reported by who, the media?

 

[cavmedic]

I got 20 on " officer safety"!


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[Septa3371CSX1]

Not sure what you mean - reported by who, the media?

Yes the media indeed. Encryption gives you so much control over what gets reported in the news.

 

[Septa3371CSX1]

I got 20 on " officer safety"!


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A rather BS excuse since encryption hampers officer safety more than helps it.

Seriously though folks now is the time to write to the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and try to persuade them to tell the police chiefs no like they did in Bucks County.

 

[radio3353]

Well, you need to keep in mind 'sandbox' exists because of the users of the system (the 'customers' if you will), and not the other way around. The Police Chiefs Association will naturally tend to have a lot of pull since their departments are the dominant users of the system.

Well, not in Bucks County. The county commissioners handily shut down the Bucks Co. police chiefs association when they wanted encryption on the new 700 mHz system.

 

[bballdawg84]

Just finding out about the encryption. This is awful. Have the commissioners voted on this proposal as of yet?

 

[jwco16]

Good luck! The commissioner's talkgroup is strapped encrypted!

 

[bballdawg84]

Let's start making some noise about this and get the facts on the finality of this proposal.

 

[bballdawg84]

A rather BS excuse since encryption hampers officer safety more than helps it.

Seriously, though folks now is the time to write to the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and try to persuade them to tell the police chiefs no like they did in Bucks County.

Emailing to Montco Commissioners needs to start ASAP, I just need some more firm info. Just from this thread, it appears the police chiefs voted for encryption but I would assume the final call will come from the BOC. Otherwise a group of unelected law enforcement heads are making public policy decisions.

I thought that MontCo was one of the more enlightened counties regarding encryption - having some sensive talkgroups encrypted and others free and clear. Hell, the Emergency Dispatch Service's website provides a live CAD report/map of current Fire/EMS/Traffic incidents and even has a page dedicated to scanner frequencies!

 

[bballdawg84]

I've made some inquires and here's the deal folks: This is a proposal from the Chief's Association. They voted for encryption which would start in the summer of 2016. This proposal is currently under consideration. Comments/opinions are welcomed.

Once I get the departmental contact person and contact info I will post. Need to have our thoughts at least considered. I would hope some type of compromise between the stakeholders could be arrived at short of full police encryption.

 

[cavmedic]

I think a good compromise would be encryption for tactical talk groups only.


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[Septa3371CSX1]

I think a good compromise would be encryption for tactical talk groups only.


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I agree with you. I'd be okay with the Region talkgroups going dark but not the dispatch talkgroups.