KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Everyone in Kalamazoo County is about to be just a little bit safer.
911 dispatch will soon get everyone on the same system for communications.
Earlier this month, the Kalamazoo County Consolidated Dispatch Authority approved the purchase of the gear necessary to achieve that goal and meet state encryption requirements by the end of next year.
County commissioner and retired police officer Dale DeLeeuw who sits on the KCCDA says it’s taken two years to get all the agencies who weren’t already on the system on board.
“And what this does is it allows every agency in the county to communicate with each other because right now that doesn’t happen, this is what I believe is the only the second county in the entire state for this to occur,” he says.
County commissioner Jeff Heppler, who is the police chief in the village of Augusta, says this is critical to community safety in an emergency, big or small.
“Communications is key to anything that we do, in police, fire, emergency medical response.”
Nichole Miller, who represents the Portage city council on the KCCDA says they will be compatible with the Michigan Public Safety Communications System as well.
“These two goals equate to almost $8 million in licensing and radio equipment for law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies county wide,” says Miller.
It’s just been in the last few decades, particularly since communications failures during the 9-11 terrorist attack, that interoperability of radio systems became a goal.
The consolidation of 911 services in Kalamazoo was done with this goal in mind, and to fund these improvements, when voters approved the 911 special millage 8 years ago.
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