Southold Town can fix most of its police radio “dead zone” problems with antenna upgrades at three existing radio tower sites and by adding police department antennas at two additional towers owned by local fire districts, Police Chief Martin Flatley told the town board today.
A consultant hired by the town last month to evaluate the radio transmission system determined that the police department’s antennas need to be placed at higher elevations on the three existing towers in Jamesport, Greenport an Orient, the chief said. The police should also seek to locate antennas on towers owned by the Mattituck and Cutchogue fire districts, according to the evaluation.
Flatley said he’s waiting for equipment manufacturer Motorola and the town’s Motorola vendor, Integrated Wireless, to finish reviewing the evaluation completed earlier this month by consultant Dennis Kenter and to provide the department with estimated costs for the project. The chief said he expected the costs would run about $25,000 per site.
The Southold Police PBA complained to the town board this summer as the board moved forward with a $340,000 radio dispatch room upgrade — before addressing the transmission system’s “dead zone” problems.
Police radio communication “dead zones” across the North Fork — which has been a problem for several years — jeopardize public and police safety, Southold PBA president Richard Buonaiuto said in an interview July 26. He said the town was not moving quickly enough to address the problem, which prevents officers from receiving or sending radio transmissions and potentially puts officers and citizens in danger. Buonaiuto’s comments came after the town board gave the chief of police its informal assent at a work session to move ahead with the radio dispatch room upgrade.
Just two weeks later, a Southold police officer got into a struggle with a criminal defendant who became violent during an arraignment in the town hall meeting room, where the town justice court holds its sessions. The officer attempted to call for assistance on his radio — twice — but his radio transmissions weren’t received by other officers — or at PD headquarters a short distance up the road in Peconic. The prisoner was eventually subdued but the officer was injured in the struggle.
Buonaiuto and PBA officers, along with about 20 other cops, attended the town board meeting that week to demand action on the transmission system. They questioned the town’s decision to move ahead first with replacing dispatch equipment and furniture in the radio room at police headquarters before addressing the failing transmission system, “which threatens the safety of my members and of the public,” he told the board from the podium.
A draft contract between the town and Kenter had been awaiting finalization and signature by the consultant, according to Supervisor Scott Russell. But Kenter said he was waiting to hear back from the town. The contract was signed shortly thereafter and Kenter’s evaluation report was delivered to the town on Sept. 6, Flatley said today.
Southold officials, Kenter and Motorola representatives met on Sept. 8., Flatley said. Everyone seemed to be in agreement on what needs to be done, according to the chief.
“Motorola wants a couple of weeks to look at it,” Flatley said. “They are coming up with a pricing list.”
Flatley said the department has some breathing room with covering the costs of the dispatch equipment/radio room upgrade and the enhancements to the transmission system thanks to “an extremely generous donation from the Reichert Family Foundation” that the chief said “comes from their overall concern for the town.”
Russell said Charles Reichert, owner of the IGA supermarkets in Southold and Greenport, was donating $340,000 to the town, which covers the cost of the dispatch equipment. Reichert has “stepped up” every time he heard the town was in need of something. In the past he has donated a generator for the Peconic school, a handicap accesible playground and money to renovate a gazebo, the supervisor said.
The Reichert donation allows the town to stretch its enhanced 911 surcharge dollars and cover the cost of the transmission upgrade without burdening real property taxpayers.
“He’s been very good to us,” Russell said.
“We are pleased that Dennis Kenter completed his evaluation of our radio system in such an efficient timeframe,” PBA president Buonaiuto said tonight.
“Dennis has verified that the issues of concern are in fact present,” he said. “We are hopeful that the town board and Chief will work together and make the upgrades that Kenter has recommended.”
