A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Campbell County Judge-Executive Pendery explains importance of digital radio system upgrade


Campbell County Judge-Executive Steve Pendery offers his perspective on the need for a regional project to upgrade Northern Kentucky’s public safety radio system:

“By now, you may have heard that Campbell County is working with Boone and Kenton Counties to design and build the infrastructure for a new public safety radio system. I want to emphasize a few important points in this discussion and explain why this project is so sorely needed in our region.

“Our current public safety radio system consists of WWII technology: an analog system put in place in 1968. In addition to there being poor coverage in parts of Campbell County, our fire/EMS folks have to use one channel while police are on a different one. The two groups cannot talk to one another, nor can they talk to agencies outside our county. The setup functions like the old “party line” telephone where only one person can talk at a time on a particular line.

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“Further, the counties are now in the same place with our radio systems that private citizens were in when we all had to upgrade our old TV’s from analog to digital the last few years. Our analog systems have reached the end of their useful lives and are no longer being supported. We have gone overboard to squeeze every year of service out of the systems that we could, but now that it is time to replace them, we would be foolish not to convert to a new, much more capable technology. The best solution financially and operationally is a digital system, otherwise known as P25 800Megahertz (800MHz) Digital Public Safety Radio.

“This technology is mature and represents the standard nationally. The 800MHz radio systems were implemented in Cincinnati and Hamilton County nearly 20 years ago and, since then, across all of Ohio and Indiana and in various Kentucky communities. It will allow police and fire personnel to talk to one another, and, because it is all-digital, multiple conversations can happen at once. Our ability to communicate and respond effectively during disasters or big events will be significantly improved because we will be able to talk to other jurisdictions via radio for the first time.

“The Fiscal Court unanimously agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Boone and Kenton Counties on September 21 to pursue a regional project to put the needed infrastructure in place. Each county uses radio towers in other counties, and, in fact, in other states, right now. Designing a system that all can use will eliminate duplication and save serious tax dollars. After all, why put a radio tower in western Campbell County and one in eastern Kenton when one tower can serve both?

Steve Pendrey

Steve Pendrey

“It’s important to point out that this is not a consolidation of the three counties’ dispatch operations. What we are pursuing is a three-county project to jointly design, procure, build, and maintain the core of a public safety radio system. Later this month, an RFP will go out, and responses will be due by February 2017. All told, we expect to get this project underway next summer and then ideally launch the new system in late 2018.

“Another key point to remember is that, due to the highly technical nature of this RFP process, we will only learn an estimated project cost once proposals come in. What the three counties have determined, however, is how to share the cost once there is agreement on proceeding. In Campbell, we will be responsible for 27.8% of the project’s shared infrastructure costs, based on population, our county’s land area, and other factors.

“We are still at the very beginning of this process. About six years ago, Campbell County Dispatch started talking with its counterparts in the region about pursuing this concept. Now, because we were patient, we are poised to move forward at a time that is ideal: the new regional system should be in place just as the old one needs to be phased out anyway. Where public safety radio systems are concerned, we are moving into the 21st century at last. I want to thank our public safety professionals for bringing all this to pass in an orderly, efficient way. They deserve enormous credit.”

“With seats in both Alexandria and Newport, Campbell County Fiscal Court is the local government for Kentucky’s eighth-largest county. Overseeing a budget of more than $40M and a staff of 200+, the Fiscal Court works diligently every day to efficiently provide a range of services to residents and businesses. Judge/Executive Steve Pendery is now serving his fifth term as the county’s chief executive, having first been elected to the post in November 1998.”

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See the NKyTribune’s story about the public safety radio system.


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