TOM MOOR, South Bend Tribune (Indiana)

SOUTH BEND – When dozens of police and fire departments converged on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, they were hampered by a lack of ability to communicate amongst each other.

Departments were overwhelmed by simultaneous communication and inability to talk on the same frequency.

Later, when the 911 Commission made its suggestions on how to better prepare for such disasters and terrorist attacks, radio communication between multiple public safety agencies was at the top of the list.

Slowly, over the years, departments across the country have been improving the way they communicate and prepare for disasters that involve more than one jurisdiction.

The South Bend Police Department will soon be the latest in St. Joseph County to switch from the old UHF system to the 800 MHz trunked radio system, joining Mishawaka and St. Joseph County police, among others.

The switch, likely to occur in the coming weeks, will essentially allow South Bend to join the state of Indiana’s radio system – part of the Indiana Public Safety Commission – that will allow police here to communicate with other departments in the state over their digital radios.

“The radios look the same, but the entire system is vastly different,” said Capt. Phil Trent, South Bend police spokesman. “The idea is the interoperability that all agencies will be able to communicate with each other.”

The city paid for the upgrade with excess child welfare levy money it received from the state a few years back. The county accumulated the fund surplus after the state assumed responsibility for child welfare costs as a part of property tax reform.

In total, the project, which was broken into two phases, cost the city $2.2 million.

The first phase, approved by the city’s Common Council in 2010, called for spending $748,889 on upgrades to the communication center – including computers and software – and the purchase of a handful of the radios for SWAT and other specialty units, Trent said.

The second phase, approved at the end of 2011, purchased the remaining radios for $1,463,858. That includes more than 200 mobile radios for squad cars, as well as about 260 new portable radios for each officer.

Currently, South Bend fire and EMS, as well as many of the township fire units, have yet to make the switch, although the fire department has about a dozen 800 MHz radios that were part of the $1.4 million purchase. South Bend city controller Mark Neal said the city is looking into whether to switch to 800 MHz for all fire department employees.

“It’s going to be reviewed in the coming months,” Neal said. “Those 800 MHz radios certainly do help them during certain activities when involved with having to coordinate with state police or Notre Dame football games.”

Police, meanwhile, point out several benefits from the newer, digital radios.

First, for example, officers involved in a car chase that spans several counties and jurisdictions will be able to talk with and give updates to officers from other jurisdictions by switching to a “talk group” channel on their radios.

The same would happen if multiple departments responded to the scene of a major disaster and needed to coordinate their efforts.

“Interoperability,” St. Joseph County police Lt. Brent Croymans calls the move to the system. “We use it sometimes daily for car pursuits, large SWAT incidents; there’s always something going on.”

Currently, officers who are not on the system and need to coordinate with another agency call the 911 dispatch center to get a message relayed.

The county in December 2009 bought new 800 MHz radios for all its officers, while the city of Mishawaka did so several years ago.

Croymans has spent the past six years building the digital system in St. Joseph County and helped oversee some of the logistics regarding South Bend’s move to it. When the county prepared for its move to the system, it built five towers in all corners of the county that all county departments can facilitate through.”My whole pursuit is to build a radio system that can not just handle the sheriff’s problems but try to get everyone, police and fire on the system,” Croymans said. “One day, something’s going to happen.”

So far, there are 62,000 users on the state system and more than 900 agencies.

Personal Police Scanners Turn Silent

Those who listen to the police scanner from home will soon have to find a new hobby or fork over more money.

Hand-held police scanners that are programmed to pick up the happenings of the South Bend Police Department will soon be turning silent for those who own the older UHF system, which most people do.

That’s because, as part of a $2.2 million project approved by the Common Council, the department will sometime this spring switch to the 800-megahertz digital radios, leaving all other types of scanners ineffective.

“It’s a whole different ballgame,” South Bend police Capt. Phil Trent said of the change.

St. Joseph County, Mishawaka and South Bend will all be using the newer 800 MHz scanners. Those who own the UHF system will be able to hear only South Bend fire and many of the township departments in St. Joseph County.

The average 800 MHz scanner costs about $500 and needs to be programmed.

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