Trenton’s radio services have been facing the threat of a shutdown that would affect the ability of police, fire, water utility and other essential personnel to dispatch assistance and communicate during a crisis. A resolution to the problem was finally achieved when the city council voted in favor of Mayor Reed Gusciora’s plan to use $10.1 million to address the problem on November 14.
The vote followed a presentation by the Trenton Police Captain, John Zappley, who is responsible for the radio operations.
Motorola Solutions will receive $9.9 million to facilitate the transfer to the new system. The changes will use some funds given to the city under President Biden’s COVID-19 relief American Rescue Plan.
MPS Communication, which has provided the services up to this point, had planned a shutdown for October 31, citing a bill for $218,000 in unpaid services. But a judge agreed to extend the city’s shut off date until December 31, 2021.
According to reporting from Isaac Avilucea with the Trentonian, in the past several years, Trenton has had problems with Kenwood Radio System which is operated by MPS. There is a count of 345 system glitches, one of which allowed a bank robber to steal $10,000 in 2019.
MPS vowed to fix the communication issues when Trenton threatened to take legal action, but there were still continuous problems even after a third communications tower was installed on South Broad Street.
“Communication services need to be reliable. If my house was burning, I wouldn’t want to dial 911 and cross my fingers that I will receive help on the other end. That should be guaranteed,” says Trenton resident Kyle Lang.
Councilwoman Kathy McBride, who has been vocal and even derogatory in her disagreements with Mayor Gusciora’s leadership, has fought him on the idea of replacing emergency radio equipment with a system that is compatible with the Mercer County radio system utilizing the ARP (American Rescue Plan) funds.
In an article by P. Kenneth Burns on whyy.org, McBride explained that she thought a better solution, and use of money, would have been an overhaul of the radio room rather than just replacing equipment.
Councilwoman McBride and MPS Communications did not return phone calls and emails requesting comment.
