TRACY, Calif. — It's been years in the making, and they finally flipped the switch about a month ago, much to the dismay of many local residents who have made a hobby of listening to local police channels.

The Tracy Police Department has switched its dispatch frequency from an analog to a digital system, allowing for communication over greater distances and with more flexibility, Lt. Dave Sant said.

The decision to upgrade to digital signals was made several years ago, and equipment required to make the transition has been purchased as older equipment needed replacing. When the department added a second channel recently, requiring the reprogramming of all the radios in police vehicles, the call was made to switch to digital, Sant said.

"It was the perfect time to do it,'' Sant said. "This gives us a cleaner and stronger signal. You can do things you can't do with analog "... It can handle both voice and data on the same signal.''

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MARION COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) - For two months now, I-Team 8 has been sounding the alarm.

Marion County has a new emergency communications system that hampers public safety.

At issue, the new digital radio system in the 9-1-1 call center. Right now operators hear 9-1-1 callers through their headsets. But the voices of the responders, such as police officers and firefighters come through a speaker. It can be difficult to have clear communication.

On Thursday, a crucial vote by the MECA board brought relief to most police officers and firefighters.

"I've got a motion on the floor for 154 boxes, that's the motion," said Chairman Joe Wright.

Chairman Wright didn't vote, but the other 4 MECA board members did and voted to spend $274,000 on boxes that will put all audio through a dispatcher's headset. But the fix isn't coming to Beech Grove.

Mayor Wright believes in keeping the 911 call and the communication wi  -> (1247 More bytes)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A multimillion-dollar plan to convert Kanawha County's emergency service agencies to a digital radio system may not be all it's purported to be.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper has asked for a complete review of the county's radio plan, and has asked state officials to discuss the digital radio system at a regular meeting of the Kanawha County Commission today.

Although Carper believes the new digital radio system is needed, he wants to make sure the radios work the way they're supposed to. "There have been serious issues raised," he said Wednesday. "I expect the vendor and the manufacturer to defend their product."

County officials had planned to switch all communications between the county's fire departments, police departments and other emergency agencies to a digital system within the next three years.

State officials already have spent about $40 million on digital radio systems in the s  -> (2337 More bytes)

MOUNT HOLLY, NC - Police and rescue workers are no longer stuck with a radio system better suited to Plymouth Rock.

City leaders agreed to share an 800-megahertz radio communications network with Charlotte, Gastonia and Belmont. The Mount Holly City Council unanimously approved a contract between the cities Monday night after agreeing in principle to the arrangement at a work session last month.

"It's going to be state of the art," said Councilman Jerry Bishop. "The one we've got now probably came over on the ark - or the Mayflower, rather."

All quips aside, the city's old radio system had serious flaws. Police Chief David Belk said communicating with officers in northern Mount Holly was often difficult, and the new system eliminates most radio dead zones.

"The 800 (MHz.) trunking system gives us 90-something-percent coverage," Belk said. "With the old one, on the north end, I bet it's 50-50."

Mount Holly will pay   -> (713 More bytes)

After a lengthy delay that kept 2,100 portable radios in mothballs, the Chicago Fire Department is finally making the switch to a $22 million digital radio system designed to prevent a repeat of communications breakdowns at a deadly Loop high-rise fire.

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