New radios allow for better police response

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- Thanks to a brand-new 800-megahertz radio network,

local public safety officials believe they can react much better in cases

of emergencies that hit Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

Part of an $80-million countywide system, the network will link all

police, fire and public works agencies in the county to one radio

frequency -- something the agencies could not do under the old

400-megahertz system.

The Costa Mesa Police Department started using the new radio Tuesday

while Newport Beach began April 17. Both cities are still in the

transitional stage and are operating a dual system that uses both the new

and old networks until the glitches are ironed out.

Funded by the cities themselves, the system is agencywide, said

Newport Beach Police Lt. John Desmond.

“We now have a base station at the dispatch center, 200 hand-held

radios and 100 mobile radios fixed into all our vehicles -- motorbikes,

patrol cars, canine units, you name it.”

The equipment, which includes radios and software for the police and

fire departments, lifeguards and public works, cost Newport Beach about

$3.2 million and Costa Mesa about $3 million, officials said.

Officials say they are not discouraged by the Orange County Grand

Jury’s report last week that concluded the new system poses a threat to

public safety because of transmission failures that occurred in cities

that went into the system earlier.

The report does raise some important issues, said Costa Mesa City

Manager Allan Roeder, who chairs a county committee overseeing the

project.

“But today those problems are matters of the past,” he said. “Costa

Mesa and Newport Beach have, in fact, benefited by going in last because

by this time all the bugs and glitches have been worked out.”

Costa Mesa police traffic officer Matt Grimmond said the new system

provides more and clearer channels.

That enables him to talk to Newport Beach police about a traffic

collision on the border of the two cities without going through dispatch.

Also, the system blocks the public, said Newport Beach Police Sgt.

Steve Shulman

“With our old system, bad guys would use it as a surveillance tool,”

he said. “This way, they can’t hear us or manipulate us.”