Atlanta public safety radio group ramps up
The new system to help police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians.
By Ben Wright
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Tenn. county's 911 unification begins Tenn., Ga. agencies join regional emergency system
COLUMBUS, Ga. — In a move toward regional communications, Phenix City has joined the Columbus Regional Radio System.
Phenix City is now part of a system that includes Columbus, Muscogee County, Harris County, LaGrange, Ga., Troup County, the Muscogee County School District and other government authorities. Columbus Council approved the agreement Tuesday evening in its first meeting of the new year.
The agreement allows the Phenix City Police Department and other public safety agencies to operate their 800 megahertz radios on the same regional system. Columbus police officers chasing a suspect across the Chattahoochee River will be able to talk directly with officers in Phenix City, for example.
The system also would be helpful when Phenix City and Columbus respond to rescue calls on the river, said Ray Smith, assistant police chief of the Phenix City Police Department.
"It's a good benefit to us," he said.
Ron Hamlett of Columbus' Traffic Engineering Department has led efforts for years to get area agencies on the same radio communication system.
"It's much more economical and effective that everybody is on the same system," Hamlett said.
In addition to police officers, the new system would help firefighters and emergency medical technicians, Smith said.
More expansion likely
Placing Phenix City on the system won't cost Columbus any money. Most of the transmission equipment already is located in Muscogee, Harris and Troup counties.
Smith said the department used a grant to buy 47 new radios that can be used with the system. The goal is to equip all the public safety departments with the new radio system. The radios could be in operation by June or earlier.
Phenix City probably won't be the last area agency to join the regional radio system, Hamlett said.
"We've talked to Opelika," Hamlett said of the Alabama city. "They have expressed some interest."
If the department in Lee County joined the system, Hamlett said the system would cover a total population of some 600,000 residents.
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