Luzerne County 911 communication upgrade soon expected to go live

After years of preparation, Luzerne County 911 Executive Director Fred Rosencrans said he is optimistic an upgraded emergency radio communication system will be activated the end of this month or early October.

The project includes additional communication towers in new locations, updated microwaves and the replacement of a 20-year-old analog radio system with a new digital one for emergency responders to exchange messages.

It promises to boost emergency radio coverage that is spotty or nonexistent in parts of the largely forested and mountainous 906-square-mile county, end radio interference and open up more radio channels for responders.

Motorola Solutions Inc. was awarded the radio system contract.

Extensive testing has been underway since August to ensure coverage standards are met when leaves are on trees, Rosencrans said.

The system will provide a minimum digital audio quality of 3.4, which is the industry standard, and Rosencrans has stressed the county won’t sign off on the system until he is certain there are no coverage issues.

Motorola is contractually bound to provide 95% emergency radio coverage, 95% of the time, over the entire county, including remote areas and the ground floors of structures in both urban and suburban communities, he reiterated.

While the formal testing phase is now complete, Rosencrans said he and staffers have been visiting sites throughout the county to perform their own additional random checks.

With project additions, county 911 now has a total 19 tower sites and larger microwave dishes that allow radio communication.

Rosencrans noted the project’s correction of emergency radio reception is “totally different” than cellular coverage. He brought that up because some people have questioned how the radios will work in areas that still have little or no cell phone reception.

School safety

As part of the project, all schools in the county will receive base-station mobile radios with a panic button, allowing school officials to instantly send a message if there is an emergency situation, he said.

“If there is a major incident, they can hit a panic button and have direct access to 911 and law enforcement with no delay,” Rosencrans said.

The project also included enhanced digital radio communication equipment inside the county prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre, the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino in Plains Township and the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township that will ensure coverage for first responders, Rosencrans said.

All three facilities had radio reception issues, he said.

The county also purchased more than $8 million in Motorola mobile and portable equipment for police and other emergency responders through the project.

Mobile radios have been installed in vehicles, and the county is now distributing the hand-held portable radios, Rosencrans said.

In-person training has been offered, and all responders have secure online access to instructional videos and other information, he said.

After the conversion, the system will be encrypting police channels for officer safety at the request of the Luzerne County Chiefs of Police Association, although fire and EMS channels won’t be encrypted, Rosencrans said.

Anyone interested in listening to fire and EMS communications must purchase a digital scanner, he said.

He has cautioned against online postings about digital scanners the public can purchase to hear fire and EMS channels after the switch. The county does not endorse or recommend specific scanners for private use, he said.