A big change is coming for police and fire crews in Snohomish County: a new radio system for emergency calls is going live on May 6.
The system was paid for with 71 million dollars from a sales tax approved by voters in 2018.
“This is an enormous, giant project by every definition. We’ve been working on it for 6 years,” said Howard Tucker, the Radio System Manager for Snohomish County 911.
The new system is specifically designed for the varied terrain of the county, spanning from the Sound to the crest of the Cascades.
“We have 22 radio sites strategically placed throughout the county to provide the coverage we need in our service area,” said Kurt Mills, the Executive Director of Snohomish County 911.
The upgraded service can handle twice as many calls as before.
“Which means when there is a heavy storm, significant incident, lots of radio traffic, users will not experience a bonk or failure to transmit,” said Everett Fire Chief Dave DeMarco.
The new system is encrypted, which means people with scanners will not be able to listen in on emergency responses.
Law enforcement says it’s about keeping first responders safe.
“With the proliferation of smartphones and apps, it is not uncommon for people to listen to us live,” said Snohomish County Sheriff Susanna Johnson. “If you can imagine what that means for first responders, where people know our movement and where we are at right now, that has been a problem,”
Police said that with the old system, people’s private information could be intercepted during investigations because the public could hear communications between police and dispatchers.
If the public wants a record of actions taken by law enforcement, they will need to make a public records request.
