Calexico Police Department becomes first in Imperial Valley to adopt FirstNet
CBS 13 on your side's Vanessa Gongora talked with the Calexico Police Chief on how beneficial this system is.
CALEXICO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Calexico Police Department advanced their two-way radio system by adopting AT&T's FirstNet network.
Calexico's traffic control division, the busiest division in the police department, needed a way to communicate. They had outdated radios and the Calexico police department's budget didn't allow Chief Gonzalo Gerardo to buy 20 standard Motorola radios. Each radio would cost anywhere from five to seven thousand dollars each.
Gerardo then decided to demo FirstNet, the only network built with and for America's first responders and the extended public safety community. After a successful one-month trial, Gerardo hopped on board with this network and adopted it in January.
The outdated radios were 18 years old and had a lot of dead spots. They were small radios that used to work off a repeater and that repeater was at the old border patrol station. So when they moved, the repeater went down, the first responders didn't have a way to communicate other than a mile radius.
When traffic issues arose over radios, that mile radius became half a mile which caused dispatch to not be able to hear them.
Gerardo is thrilled to be the first in Imperial Valley to adopt FirstNet.
"I hope it goes around because this is something good and I hope people realize that. Even though someone might say you're taking a risk, this is not a risk because so far it's working for us in a border town. With all the interference we used to get with Mexico before, different bands different frequencies, I think its good. It's a win-win for everybody," Gerardo said.
FirstNet was created after 9/11, after first responders struggled to communicate during the terrorist attacks.
FirstNet prioritizes public safety communication for data, voice and text over commercial traffic to make sure first responders are able to communicate in a time of need.
Manny Hernandez, FirstNet consultant, said after 25 million dollars was invested into FirstNet, network enhancements were made to better serve the border first responders.
"The border was suffering over a communication from Mexico due to the interference with the Antennas. FirstNet is the first company to address the issue and make sure public safety was able to communicate with the feed over the Mexican Network," Hernandez said.
Andrea Navarro, a Calexico Parking Enforcement Officer, is relieved she no longer has to stress about losing service and is able to have access to critical information while in the field.
"This is really good for us and we can communicate a lot with the accidents, the people that need something. We are in contact with the dispatch department," Navarro said.
Chief Gerardo says his traffic control division is busy with incidents so adopting the FirstNet network was a great decision for everyone to execute their jobs better.
