Post Falls police to upgrade radios

POST FALLS — The Post Falls City Council has approved a request for the Post Falls Police Department to purchase and install new radio equipment.

The new equipment comes with a $228,000 price tag. During the Feb. 20 council meeting, Post Falls Police Capt. Mark Brantl said the costs are covered by funds from 911 support fees that have been earmarked for the project.

Brantl said the police department is running on an encrypted ultra high frequency band. 

The current system does not pair up with other agencies through the county, Brantl said, so they have to patch channels together at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office in order for their department to communicate with county responders. 

"We can't even talk to fire responders unless they jump over to our channel," Brantl said.

Installing the new hardware will improve the capability for Post Falls to oversee what channels are patched together, Brantl said, and will give them more control over channels through a web based interface.

"The new system is also built for expansion," Brantl said. "So if we needed to add a channel for Washington to connect to Spokane responders to assist with mutual aid, we could do that."

Post Falls Mayor Ron Jacobson asked if the department could simply upgrade to the same system the county runs on, but Brantl said the cost would be too high.

"We would have to join the state radio network that is housed in Boise," Brantl said. "We would have to install additional infrastructure in order to connect. It would also cost several million dollars to purchase a core unit for ourselves."

Brantl said the goal is to have the new equipment installed by summer.