Detective Raymond Walter of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police operating a new APX6000 radio on PSIC. Photo by Anthony Toranto, PIPC.

The Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Department has become the first agency in New Jersey to migrate radio communications onto the new State of New Jersey P.S.I.C. system. The P.S.I.C. system, short for Public Safety Interoperable Communications, is a statewide trunking radio system which operates on the new 700 MHz public safety spectrum.

This radio system was primarily funded by the United States Office of Homeland Security as an effort to reduce the financial burden on public safety agencies who needed to meet federally imposed “narrow banding mandates”. Additionally, agencies operating between 470-512 are facing a probability that the FCC will auction off that frequency band in 2021. This will require agencies operating on the frequency range of 470-512 to vacate and find a new communications solution.

For years our agency operated on a VHF frequency and an infrastructure which was plagued with coverage, connectivity, and reliability problems. The system limited our capabilities and was costly to maintain.

With the implementation of the PSIC system, our agency was able to purchase only the operating radios such as portables, mobiles, and desk radios. The remaining infrastructure is maintained and upgraded as needed by the State of New Jersey. This solution was a perfect fit for us as we no longer need to maintain antennas, receivers, transmitters, connectivity, or maintenance costs. We are able to leverage advanced technology which gives additional functionality such as channel capacity, GPS locations, and encryption. We will have the ability to track not only officer vehicle locations but the officers themselves which has always been a challenge for our agency given our treacherous coverage area. We have chosen Motorola Solutions for radio models APX6000, APX6500, APX7000, APX7500, and APX7500 consolettes which have been proven to be perfect for our needs.

The radio system’s coverage is like no other system in the area. Simply put, the PSIC system is to public safety communications the way the cloud is to computing. From an operational standpoint, it is able to provide cellular comparable coverage while in a traditional two-way radio form factor.

The Palisades Interstate Parkway Police utilized forfeiture money primarily from the seizure of money used in narcotic activities in order to purchase the radios themselves. The maintenance cost per radio per year was ¼ of our annual maintenance costs with the traditional radio system. We were able to cut our recurring annual costs by 75%, increase coverage and capabilities, and enhance the safety of both our officers and the public.

The New Jersey Office of Information Technology, through the use of Memorandum of Understandings, has made the system available to any agencies throughout the state who are in need of a reliable communications solution. The PSIC system is managed by the New Jersey Office of Information Technology and NJ State Police Radio Equipment Maintenance Unit.