Crime & Safety

New Police Radios Dropped from Capital Budget

Money for police radios dropped despite FCC mandate that radios be narrowband by Jan. 1, 2013.

On January 1, 2013, all police mobile radio systems must comply with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau's mandate to convert from wideband to narrowband radio systems.

The FCC has mandated the transition to "narrowbanding" because the system of "widebanding" is highly congested and there often is not enough spectrum available to expand existing systems or implement new ones.

Despite this mandate, the New Milford council agreed to drop the proposed expenditure for the purchase of 20 portable radios and eight car radios from the police department's capital budget at Monday's special meeting after Councilman Austin Ashley continued to raise concerns that the expenditures of the borough's capital budget needed to be further reduced from the that was proposed from the .

Find out what's happening in New Milfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mayor Ann Subrizi said that after already having reduced the capital budget by more than half, from $1.8 million to $859,850, she was concerned about deep cuts in areas that affected safety; however Ashley said he wanted to look for more areas where expenditures could be cut. 

Councilman Dominic Colucci said that cutting into expenditures that would compromise safety was not prudent. Colucci also warned that the expense for narrowband radios may be removed from this year's budget, but it will not go away.

Find out what's happening in New Milfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We have to be in compliance," Colucci said. "If we don't spend the money this year, we'll have to next year," he said. Also, he warned, the town might face fines for non-compliance. 

According to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, "After January 1, 2013, licensees not operating at 12.5 KHz efficiency (narrowband) will be in violation of the Commission's rules and could be subject to FCC enforcement action, which may include admonishment, monetary fines, or loss of license."

The $101,000 proposed for the purchase of the radios also included the purchase of a repeater for the middle school ($20,5710) and an upgrade to the repeater at headquarters ($23,740).

A repeater is a radio transmitter that receives a weak or low-level signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, so that the signal can cover longer distances. A repeater allows communication between two or more base, mobile or portable stations that are unable to communicate directly with each other due to distance or obstructions between them.

In the case of the middle school, the current bandwidth radio systems do not work because the materials used in the construction of the building obstruct the signal.

"For the safety of the children, my priority is the repeater at the middle school," Chief of Police Frank Papapietro said. 

"The one at headquarters is reaching the end of its life," he continued. "The technology is old and parts replacement is becoming increasingly difficult." 

Converting to narrowband not only allows for more efficient use of the spectrum, but it can support more users by allowing for the creation of additional channels. It is essential during mutual aid responses involving other towns. Narrowbanding is less susceptible to interference, and provides enhanced capabilities not available on the old systems. 

Papapietro also said that radio communications with other towns that are narrowband compliant will be very difficult if New Milford is using out-dated technology. 

Also dropped from the police department capital expenses is $50,000 for on-board cameras in primary control police vehicles. 

According to Papapietro, in-car cameras can protect the town against potential lawsuits. Papapietro said that in some situations where it's a civilian's word against a police officer's, it takes minutes to look at the tape to resolve the issue rather than months of potentially costly litigation. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.