Receiving the all-clear signal
MARCS radios offer safe channel for law enforcement agencies
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Representatives of the Trumbull County 911 Center and the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office say implementing the MARCS (Multi-Agency Radio Communication System) radios earlier this year is providing more safety to law enforcement, and even those departments not yet on the radios will be able to connect to those with them during emergency situations.
"This was a tremendous upgrade for law enforcement in Trumbull County. The sheriff's department helped get the project started with support from the county commissioners," Joe Dragovich, chief deputy of the sheriff's department said.
The new radio system also included upgrades at the Trumbull County 911 Center in Howland.
Officials said in addition to the sheriff's department, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Howland, Newton Falls and Warren are among those using MARCS radios.
Dragovich said the MARCS radios provide better clarity and reliability with clean communication, and the ability for agencies to dial into a channel and all communicate at one time.
"In a crisis situation and critical incident, there is the ability for better communication. You can be across the state, or when I was in Indiana getting a K-9 I could still hear very clear," Dragovich said.
Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe said when deputies were in Mesopotamia, Bloomfield and other northern Trumbull communities, they were concerned the older radios or cellphones did not always work. He said the radios with repeaters help boost the signal to get it back to the 911 center if someone is out of the car.
"The best thing we did was go with MARCS radios. This is a lifeline for our deputies," Monroe said.
Monroe said some part-time police departments don't have the radios.
"Trumbull 911 is capable of directly linking any department that does not have the radios to the sheriff's department to directly speak with us. Those smaller departments are always under our umbrella," he said.
Monroe said officers in other departments on an older radio system still can be connected to 911 and be then directly connected to the sheriff's department.
"We could have a deputy or someone who could fall and can't get up. There may not be anyone nearby. This radio is their lifeline to reach 911," he said.
The county fire departments also will soon be able to interlink with law enforcement through a frequency that will be set up.
Sgt. Dan Mason with the sheriff's department said the MARCS radios are used nationwide and are much more reliable then past radios.
"The radios allow us to speak to someone in Ashtabula County or even further distance away," Mason said.
Ernie Cook, director of the Trumbull County 911 Center, said it would be nice for everyone to be on the MARCS radios, but the grant money is not there for the police departments.
He said the 911 Center has new dual-band consoles that hear the calls from both those on the MARCS radios and those who are not.
"With these consoles we can cover both radios," he said.
Cook said as of mid-March, 11 out of 21 police departments are on MARCS and 18 of the 27 fire departments in the county have the radios.
He said the fire departments are fortunate that they have a $1.4 million grant to help them get the MARCS radios.
"We plan to get all the fire departments on the radios by May. With the police departments, it will take time since there are limited grant funds available for them," Cook said.
Kinsman officials this past week expressed concerns that if they do not get a grant from the Spirit of Blue Foundation to get the MARCS radios, they will be among the few communities that won't have them and will be at a disadvantage.
Police Sgt. Shawn Rentz told trustees when he is out on police calls using the current radio system, only 911 can hear his calls because he is on a non-MARCS radio channel.
He applied for a Spirit of Blue Foundation grant, which is dedicated to the enhancement of officer safety by promoting public awareness for their protection and fulfilling safety equipment and training needs, according to the foundation's website. Trustee Greg Leonhard said he is concerned about Kinsman police not being heard by the sheriff or other police departments and vice versa.
"If he calls for help, he will call dispatch who will have to contact the sheriff's department on the MARCS radios. He is on one channel some nights all by himself. If he was on the same radio, they could hear him now," he said.
Leonhard said besides Kinsman, Hartford and Farmington also do not have MARCS radios yet. Leonhard said MARCS radios have been in place in Ashtabula County for 15 years as with all law enforcement agencies worked together to get them.
Leonhard said he credits all the fire departments getting together to get the MARCS radios with a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant.
"All the law enforcement departments in Trumbull County should have gone together like the fire departments did," Leonhard said.
Kinsman fire Chief Corey Vankanegan said the fire department had to cover a 10 percent cost for the FEMA grant. Leonhard said the grant will determine when the MARCS radio can be acquired -- this year or next year. He said he has spoken to Hartford and they are in the same situation as Kinsman.
"To switch to the MARCS radios is expensive. The smaller communities like Kinsman and Hartford will need to get together and see if we can jointly seek grant funding. We may have to bite the bullet and do whatever we can to get them," Hartford Trustee Rebecca Whitman said.