TOPSHAM — Topsham will spend $77,387 to replace outdated portable and mobile radios used by its police and fire departments.
The town’s select board voted unanimously Thursday to pay for new radios using money from the town’s reserve account.
Police Chief Marc Hagan said the police department wants to replace 18 portable radios and 12 mobile radios for the cruisers. EMS director Mike Labbe said the fire department would be replacing 16 mobile radios for emergency vehicles and 22 portable radios.
“When I first came here in the fall, a lot of the officers were complaining about our inability to communicate not only with each other, but with Sagadahoc Communications because of the age of our equipment,” Hagan told selectmen.
Hagan said an audit of the police department’s equipment revealed that the majority of its radios are at least 10 years old, “and they’re operating beyond their life expectancy.”
Police have had to take parts from existing radios to fix others when they break, he added. The battery life testing failed in 75% of the radios.
“It’s difficult at best to find replacement parts for them,” Hagan said.
Hagan said the fire department was having the same issues with its radios.
“Our ability to communicate is crucial and when we can’t communicate, we’re putting our personnel and the public at risk,” Hagan said.
Hagan estimated the portable radios the officers carry with them cost around $900. The mobile radios in the cruiser cost roughly $1,500. There are some additional installation fees.
The town received two bids on new radios and went with the lower bid from Radio Communications Management in Portland. Town Manager Derek Scrapchansky said the radio purchase will be paid for through an emergency funding account designated for public safety radio equipment. That account has a balance of about $180,000.
The new radios will have the capability to have updated software, Hagan said. He also is including incremental radio replacement in his capital equipment plan so the town won’t have to replace all its police radios at once in the future.
Hagan told selectmen the communication problem is two-fold. One problem is the condition of the town’s radio equipment, which should be addressed within the next few weeks with the purchase of new radios.
The second problem is the radio coverage in town, which will likely take longer to fix. A memo from Hagan to Scrapchansky notes that Sagadahoc County Communications has hired an outside firm to audit the county’s radio coverage. The audit found numerous dead spots where radios don’t work, according to the memo.
Sagadahoc County Administrator Pamela Hile said Friday the county is studying ways to improve its communications across the county but hasn’t yet finalized a plan.
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