new McFarland Police frequencies????????

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SloScanMan_01

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KMA367

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460.25?

Two news items I found say that McFarland is working with Shafter PD to handle their dispatching for the time being. I would imagine they'll use Shafter's existing (460.250) police frequency. For two small towns using the same dispatcher(s), it wouldn't make much sense to use separate dispatch frequencies, and neither McFarland nor Shafter has made any requests to the FCC for frequency additions or modifications in the past year.


The city of McFarland in Kern County has canceled their Sheriff contract and is getting ready to restart their police department. Anyone know what their new frequencies will be? I found more info at the following link: McFarland prepares for new police department | Bakersfield Now - News, Weather and Sports | News

Also, here: Jose Gaspar column: McFarland rebuilding police force - Bakersfield.com

Does anybody know the frequencies? Thanx.
 

scanfan22

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bad move?!

probably not a good move to change to their own PD. It may be cost effective due to running the pd on the cheap but the service may suffer... Any thoughts on this?
 

PJaxx

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probably not a good move to change to their own PD. It may be cost effective due to running the pd on the cheap but the service may suffer... Any thoughts on this?
That issue comes up all the time with small towns everywhere. Usually it's NOT cost effective (even if done "on the cheap") for a 5-officer town to go it alone rather than contracting out with the Sheriff or a neighboring city. The reason is almost always one of "local control" of their officers - policies, procedures, and priorities.

I haven't a clue about McFarland and Kern County, but in many places the Sheriff's Department attempts to keep their contract officers in the city, but if something big goes down a few miles away they can pull their "Mayberry" deputy out of town and send him to the hot call down the highway. Other side of the coin is that a Sheriff's contract often includes, at no extra cost, all of their investigative and other resources.

Comes down to a political (small "p") decision by the townspeople and their city council about what their financial and policy priorities are. Many towns in rural California counties decide that the local control is worth the extra tax dollars.
 

PJaxx

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Yeah it's sad that politics take priority over public safety.
My "(small "p")" bit was my try at implying that it may be a legitimate and reasonable move by the city council, who control the purse strings, so there is always a politcal component to the operation of any city agency.

Since we don't know what kind of agreement McFarland has with KCSO, it may be a better deal in terms of public safety for the residents to have their own PD.

It might be that the Sheriff can't guarantee that they'll have a deputy always assigned to and in or near the town, but with their own department the city govt or police chief can make it mandatory that their officers don't leave town without a really good reason, and/or without getting permission and arranging for another officer to be called in to cover.

You lose flexibility with a small workforce, but then again, a major crime could occur, or all hell break loose 10 miles east of McFarland, and KCSO would almost by necessity send their "McFarland" deputy, for which they couldn't be faulted, but then the city would be unprotected. I realize the same thing would happen if all one or two of McF PD's on-duty officers get tied up on an emergency of their own, but the Sheriff of Kern is only weakly beholden to the people of any town he serves, and I imagine the KCSO dispatchers policy is to send the nearest deputies to any emergency they get, regardless of the deputies' geographical assignment. Don't we have a KCSO dispatcher on RadioReference who might weigh in on this?

Meanwhile, any new radio license changes for McFarland or Shafter, or news articles? And is there a date set yet?
 

kma371

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probably not a good move to change to their own PD. It may be cost effective due to running the pd on the cheap but the service may suffer... Any thoughts on this?

Please do not hijack the thread. Lets get back on topic...
 
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At this point, the new McFarland Police Department does not have anyone to dispatch for them. They don't have the money or time to set up a comm center. They wanted the Kern County Sheriff's Department to do it, but they said no thank you. They city of McFarland already owes the Sheriff's Department a couple of million and change for the police services we have been providing for the last 18 years. They then asked Delano Police Department to do it, but Delano turned them down (bad blood between the cities). They then went to Shafter Police Department, who was considering it, but had to back out due to technical reasons. (Shafter's radios don't work in McFarland). McFarland has gone back to Delano and asked again, and the last I heard, Delano PD was going to their city council next week to see if they would approve it.

As for coverage in the City of McFarland, We had a Sargent, 2 Senior deputies and I think 9 or 10 deputies assigned to the City. We also have other deputies that handle the county areas. The city units were rarely pulled from the city (it did happen occasionally), but by the same token, if the fur hit the fan in the city, the county units were all in the city helping. They actually got many more deputies than they were paying for. Not to mention the use of detectives, K-9 units, gang units, the helicopter and evidence technicians.

They city decided they could do it on their own with more people at a much cheaper cost. I don't see how, unless you pay your officers much less than everyone else in the area.

I don't know what will happen at this point, we are just waiting to see. I'm just glad I'm not involved in the whole mess.
 

DPD1

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The city units were rarely pulled from the city (it did happen occasionally), but by the same token, if the fur hit the fan in the city, the county units were all in the city helping. They actually got many more deputies than they were paying for. Not to mention the use of detectives, K-9 units, gang units, the helicopter and evidence technicians.

As mentioned, this is why towns should think long and hard about switching. It's that emergency surge availability and big city resources that make the big difference. Somebody posted something about the politicians in Compton wanting to get rid of the LASD, because they could "put more officers on the streets" on their own... Which made me laugh, because just the air, K-9, gang and investigative services alone are worth what they pay LA. Something they will not have on their own, but probably still expect the county to provide out of the goodness of their hearts, for free. Even getting paid, that area is a huge drain on the county as is.
 

scanfan22

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So I take it that the Shafter dispatch repeater can't cover McFarland well. A friend of mine that lived in Bakersfield recalls that the Shafter repeater was based out of a building in downtown Shafter at minimal power and could barely be heard outside that immediate area. It would seem that their best bet for dispatching would be Delano (due to proximity) or the Sheriff (due to mountain top sites) and neither one is jumping at the chance. This will be interesting to watch how this plays out.

PS. Sorry if I "highjacked" the thread earlier I was just giving my 2 cents on the politics.
 

1979lee

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I went back and look in my very old 1988 POLICE CALL Ca vol 9 book
and the only listing for the city of mcfarland is


Name Transmitter City Ser freq call sign base mob
MCFARLAND CITY OF MC FARLAND L 158.754 KNHF459 1 7
MCFARLAND CITY OF MC FARLAND P 158.850 KML231 1 6

I don't know what these are used for now in 2009 or back in 1988
but the KNHF459 is still an active freq according to the fcc
ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Conventional License - KNHF459 - MC FARLAND, CITY OF

as for KML231
Current Licenses by Callsign

No Match for this Callsign in the Database!

"KML231%" not found in FCC Databases

lee
 

KMA367

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I'm sure you meant to type 158.745 for KNHF459. Their contact person on that license is "Rey De Leon" who is the city's Public Works Director, so it's probably safe to assume that's the city's Public Works frequency. Of course the PD could use it too, if they want / have to, (though it's shared with the West Side Mosquito Abatement District in Taft) but their real problem seems to be dispatchers rather than frequencies. Frequencies and radios can be fairly easily and quickly obtained, but dispatchers don't come easy or cheap. Especially if they need them the day after tomorrow, literally. They've got a new chief, new cars (with new un-programmed radios??), a new logo, and new officers, all of which are useless until they can find some dispatchers to answer the phones and give them their calls. This is remarkably common though... dispatchers seldom get much attention unless they do something really bad or something really really good. Just a piece of equipment the rest of the time.

155.85 is listed in the RR database as the uplink for Kern CoFD's Primary Command freq. Looking back at Kelty's 4th & 5th editions (1987 & 1988) McFarland PD used 158.85 simplex with no PL, and Public Works is named but no freq given; his 1990 6th edition has both 158.85 and 460.100 listed as "Police Primary (Mike)." 460.100 is also there as a KCSO "Future operations Planned" frequency along with a couple other 460s, and McFarland began contracting with the Sheriff the following year.

Kind of like déjà vu all over again from Tehachapi's similar breaking away from KCSO about 2½ years ago and their almost last-minute hunting for freqs, radios and dispatchers, but with much more brinkmanship here. I'll go out on a limb and predict that the phase-out of KSCO's service to the town will happen on schedule, but the SO will end up dispatching them for a while on the current frequency. But that doesn't sound pretty at all.

I went back and look in my very old 1988 POLICE CALL Ca vol 9 book
and the only listing for the city of mcfarland is


Name Transmitter City Ser freq call sign base mob
MCFARLAND CITY OF MC FARLAND L 158.754 KNHF459 1 7
MCFARLAND CITY OF MC FARLAND P 158.850 KML231 1 6

I don't know what these are used for now in 2009 or back in 1988
but the KNHF459 is still an active freq according to the fcc
ULS License - Public Safety Pool, Conventional License - KNHF459 - MC FARLAND, CITY OF

as for KML231
Current Licenses by Callsign

No Match for this Callsign in the Database!

"KML231%" not found in FCC Databases

lee
 
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wuzafuzz

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McFarland is tiny and flat. They could cover it like gangbusters on simplex. As someone else mentioned, it's the need for dispatchers that will likely be the issue. That and routing 911 calls. If Kern County keeps taking the calls, and transfers them to McFarland, maybe that will work. Then all you need is a POST dispatcher in front of a computer and cheesy base radio.

Heck, I used to work for a campus police dept where we usually had one copper on duty with a phone patch and NO dispatcher (later upgraded to a real live cell phone!). Decent service can be provided on a shoestring budget. As much as I like gadgets, a small police dept can function just fine without equipping it's officers like the Borg.

As for all the resources the KCSD brings to the table, certain of them will still be available as needed. The sheriff's dept is unlikely to refuse help with a major crime. When I was an evidence tech for KCSD we responded to help ANY agency that asked. I dont know what happened behind the scenes with MOU's and such.

As much loyalty as I have to sheriff's depts in general, if I lived in a small town I'd prefer my own cops. Deputies have a habit of transferring in and out like the town is a revolving door. Getting your own cops to stay put in a small town is a challenge all its own though.
 

KMA367

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"Dispatchers? We ain' got no dispatchers. We don't need no stinkin' dispatchers"

Well, I was HALF right:
I'll go out on a limb and predict that the phase-out of KSCO's service to the town will happen on schedule, but the SO will end up dispatching them for a while on the current frequency. But that doesn't sound pretty at all.
This just in, as they say:

"McFarland Police Department Assumes Law Enforcement Function"

"At 12:01 a.m. Thursday, [As in today? Did it happen already??] the McFarland Police Department will assume the law enforcement function in the city of McFarland...

"...all 911 calls will still come into the Kern County Sheriff's Communication Center. They said they will take the necessary information and then call the McFarland Police Department and relay the information to them. This will obviously cause a 2-5 minute delay in response."

Marvelous, just marvelous. And it still begs the original question about what frequency they'll use. Their 158.745 would seem to be the easiest temporary fix, unless perhaps either Delano (if the talks are moving favorably) or KCSO lets McFarland use one of their available freqs on a sort of secondary basis.

And who's going to answer the phones at McFarland - the 7-digit number or the KCSO 9-1-1 transfers? Will they use cellphones and have the officers answer from wherever they happen to be? Does McF have decent Nextel coverage.. their PTT (or whatever it's called) would be a useful feature under these circumstances.

I'll still agree with myself, and now even more so, that it
doesn't sound pretty at all.
 

1979lee

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Kma367,
It does sound mighty dangerous, 2-5, plenty of time for say a killer to get away.
iam glad i dont live in mcafrland,(i do however live in an area covered by the kcso metro units) and hope there no OILDALE pd EVER.
looking at the other kcso freq's to use for dispatch, there are none avilable to my knowledge. with 3 main dispatch freqs and 3 tac freqs, along with the one swat feq , all are taken.
West Dispatch 460.1000
West Tac 453.3750
East Dispatch 460.2250
East Tac 460.1250
Admin (Countywide) 460.5750
Metro Dispatch 453.0500
Metro Tac 453.9250
Probation 460.1750
Animal Control 453.3000
General Services/Ag 453.4500
Roads & Bridges 453.4000
Parks (maint) 453.7000
Mutual Aid 453.2250
I guess they can use clemars simplex.
but thats not to be used for permint dispatching.
if they do get delano or shafter pd to dispatch for them, ill be able to monitor it.
iam lucky i can get dpd at times iam over 40miles away , spd comes in very clear here in oildale ca.
someone also mentioned tehachapi/bear valley police, i revieve them here too.


like you said , this doesn't sound pretty at all.
 

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Well, as of 1500 when I got off duty today, McFarland still had no dispatch. Yes we (KCSO dispatch) will still get their 911 calls. Supposedly the old McFarland substation phone number will be switched over to MCF PD at 0001 hours tonight/tomorrow morning. They can get non emergency calls on the 7 digit line, but we have to take the 911 calls. They have no equipment to take them. I have no idea what they will be using for a radio channel, they are not licensed for anything and without a signed MOU from the state, they can't use CLEMARS. I know at 0001 hours tonight, our units are logging of as McFarland units and moving to the county areas for coverage.

It's not gonna be fun tying up 2 dispatchers to handle their 911 priority 1 calls. 1 dispatcher on 911 and a second calling McF PD on 7 digit. I have no idea how they will get the info after that.

Maybe they should invest in some Radio Shack FMRS radios.
 
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McFarland's old channel of 155.85 was simplex used by most all of the small departments back in the 80's. It was monitored by their own dispatchers, plus Control 5 (county communications). It was a county frequency, which has been reused as part of KCFD's VHF radio system.

With the exception of Bakersfield PD and Ridgecrest PD all law enforcement in Kern County is UHF now. RIdgecrest PD is in the process of trying to find a good UHF freq so they can move up to UHF and have access to the Sheriff channels for mutual aid.
 

Radio_Lady

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What a mess. Were I a Mcfarland resident or police officer I think my faith in the department would be real shaky about now, except the average resident wouldn't even know about the communications snafu.

I'm hearing some law enforcement radio traffic on the "CAL FIRE and the US Forest Service" RadioReference scanner feed, Kern County, California (CA) Live Police, Fire, and EMS Scanners on RadioReference.com I wonder what, if anything, will be said at that 0001 log-off time.

How will they be able to run people or plates without dispatch service? Or get follow-up information on calls for service? Or call for help when they finally receive a call and go onscene? Maybe wuzafuzz's idea of a phone patch is the way to go temporarily, except for the total lack of security or privacy. But they need a frequency, preferable a duplex pair, for that to work right. What were these people thinking? It's as if these people had HEARD of a police department but had never seen one.

From a former dispatcher's standpont, this fiasco is really hard to fathom. I hope to god that nobody, resident or police officer, gets hurt or killed because of it.

I know at 0001 hours tonight, our units are logging of as McFarland units and moving to the county areas for coverage.

It's not gonna be fun tying up 2 dispatchers to handle their 911 priority 1 calls. 1 dispatcher on 911 and a second calling McF PD on 7 digit. I have no idea how they will get the info after that.

Maybe they should invest in some Radio Shack FMRS radios.
 

kma371

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Kma367,
It does sound mighty dangerous, 2-5, plenty of time for say a killer to get away.
iam glad i dont live in mcafrland,(i do however live in an area covered by the kcso metro units) and hope there no OILDALE pd EVER.
looking at the other kcso freq's to use for dispatch, there are none avilable to my knowledge. with 3 main dispatch freqs and 3 tac freqs, along with the one swat feq , all are taken.
West Dispatch 460.1000
West Tac 453.3750
East Dispatch 460.2250
East Tac 460.1250
Admin (Countywide) 460.5750
Metro Dispatch 453.0500
Metro Tac 453.9250
Probation 460.1750
Animal Control 453.3000
General Services/Ag 453.4500
Roads & Bridges 453.4000
Parks (maint) 453.7000
Mutual Aid 453.2250
I guess they can use clemars simplex.
but thats not to be used for permint dispatching.
if they do get delano or shafter pd to dispatch for them, ill be able to monitor it.
iam lucky i can get dpd at times iam over 40miles away , spd comes in very clear here in oildale ca.
someone also mentioned tehachapi/bear valley police, i revieve them here too.


like you said , this doesn't sound pretty at all.

Not to get too off topic, but is that the current patch they are going to use? I need to get me one of those...that and the new Mendota :)

...update....well that's actually an older style McFarland patch, wonder if they will go back to it....sorry I'm a patch nerd
 
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KMA367

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KCSO "Switch callsigns" message

About 00:03 Friday morning Delta Sam 1 advised the KCSO McFarland units to switch to their Delano callsigns. It took him two tries to get them to do it; here are the messages, recorded from the KCSO scanner feed at http://216.66.69.100:3074/listen.pls I deleted about 2 minutes of unrelated radio traffic between his two requests:

http://harrymarnell.net/KCSO_McFarland.mp3

Nothing else was said. Now to find where the new PD is.
 
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