Emergency communication key focus for million dollar donation

Emergency communication key focus for million dollar donation
By Sarah Rohrs/Times-Herald, Vallejo
Posted: 12/23/2008 01:04:37 AM PST

In an emergency, the last thing you need is the inability of police, fire and other public safety agencies to communicate easily with one another.

That's why county officials are pleased with a $1 million donation which will help complete a state-of-the-art countywide communication system.

The new system will help erase static in the county's effort to ensure police, fire and other agencies can communicate with one another via radio.

County public information officer Steve Pierce said in many cases emergency personnel within the county or a city can communicate over the radio with each other, but not with other agencies.

"Not all of our public safety agencies can talk together, which is the purpose of the project," Pierce said.

A so-called "magical black box" to ease communications should be working in about three months, he added.

The $1 million donation comes from the Valero Refining Company of Benicia, and includes $100,000 to assist with the Benicia Police Department in improving its communication system.

The refinery delivered the first $250,000 Wednesday and will make annual payments through 2011.

County Supervisor John Silva of Benicia, who spear-headed the efforts to secure the funding, said the grant will enable radio frequencies to be set so that all parties can understand what's being said.

With less than two weeks left in office, Silva said securing the enormous grant "feels good as I'm going out the door."

Valero vice president and general manager Doug Comeau said the refinery is pleased to support the work, and added that even in the bad economy, health and safety cannot be ignored.

The county and Solano's seven cities are working together under the umbrella of the Solano Emergency Communications Activity (SECA) to improve the way emergency responders communicate. The effort to improve radio communication began with a 2003 study.

Benicia Police Chief Sandra Spagnoli said the $100,000 Valero grant will help the city comply with new Federal Communications Commission requirements, and remove radio "dead zones" around town.

Funding will also go toward new equipment to take care of compatibility issues between various public safety agencies, Spagnoli said.