New radio communication system unveiled
Congressman Rob Andrews and county officials have announced a $40 million project to transition 37 municipalities’ to a new state-of-the-art 700 MHz digital radio communications system.
“The Freeholder Board’s number one priority is to make sure the residents, families and children of Camden County are safe,” said Freeholder Scot McCray, liaison to the Camden County Department of Public Safety. “When you call 911 it is imperative for the system to work and for first responders to have the ability to communicate with one another.”
“The signal strength and clarity of the new system is unsurpassed. We tested the new radios in areas that had previously posed problems to our public safety community, and they more than impressed us,” McCray said. “From the top of a Cherry Hill high-rise, inside a bank vault in Haddon Township and the middle of an orchard in Winslow, we experienced crystal clear communications.”
County communications systems have been plagued by digital interference from television stations located as far away as South Carolina and Massachusetts, rendering the systems useless for long periods of time and creating potentially life-threatening risks for our police, fire, first responders and residents.
The new system is far more reliable than the longtime radio communication systems that have been used in the county since the mid-1970s. Camden County officials anticipate the system will provide a much safer and more effective and efficient radio system for the county’s first responders and citizens. Included in the project were are technological and infrastructure improvements, new towers, and new mobile and portable radios for all of the county’s first responders.
Police communications is anticipated to broadcast on the new system by the end of the year. As part of that transition, 1,054 mobile radios and 1,280 portable radios are being purchased at a cost of $10.1 million. Fire and EMS have utilized the new system since May 6. Included in that phase of the project were 790 mobile radios and 2,017 portable radios at a cost of $12.1 million.
Over $17 million of the project’s funding came through low interest bonds under the American Recovery and Re-investment Act.
