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4618 square miles of territory requires significant communications capability to support the law enforcement and emergency management functions of the Lane County Sheriff's Office.
The Radio Network must provide reliable “mission critical” communications between Sheriff’s Office employees and various other law enforcement dispatch centers in and around Lane County. The network must also provide an “acceptable” degree of radio coverage in all areas of the County where service to citizens would normally be expected. This includes all contract cities, all major incorporated cities, all major highways and traffic arterials, all major waterways, as well as major areas of population in the County.
Two-way radio communication is the only lifeline available to field deputies, and the only backup communication available to emergency and disaster service agencies in the event of ground-based communication system failure. The terrorist experience on the United States east coast in 2001 served only to reinforce the critical need for communications infrastructure for public safety providers.
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Calendar Year 2005 Operations
The Sheriff's radio network unit operates with a single coordinator, responsible for maintaining 13 remote radio sites, 300 mobile radios, 200 portable radios, the communications center computer / radio system, telephone and recording equipment. The size of the task is monumental: this network, engineered in the 1960's, installed in the early 70's, suffers from component aging and lack of replacment parts.
Efforts are underway to replace aging infrastructure with federally mandated technology.
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