DIGITAL RADIO CONCERNS « The Garland County Jail Tax

DIGITAL RADIO CONCERNS

The following news reports raise questions about the reliablity of the proposed radio systems.

May 20, 2008, Orlando firefighters use analog radios, rather than thier new digital radios because of problems using digital radios in the noisy enviroment they operate in.

July 23, 2008, Philadelphia requires police to ride 2 per vehicle after the 15th failure of their digital radio system.

Redwood City California abandoned their digital radio system and went back to their old analog system.

Indianapolis FOP votes to sue digital radios if problems aren’t fixed.

3 firefighters deaths attributed to digital radio failures.

More info about digital trunked radio systems may be found at this link.

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The Garland County Jail Tax // August 7, 2008 at 1:57 pm

[...] DIGITAL RADIO CONCERNS [...]

What are the alternatives?

Almost every one in Garland County wants jail expansion and is willing to pay for it. One option that can be used to provide up to $50 million is provided by A.C.A. 14-164-340. That law allows a county to vote on a tax, of up to 1%, for up to 3 years, that can be used for construction of a jail. The tax does not have to be shared with the city. A tax under this authority also has the ability "to establish a trust fund whose income would provide operating funds" for the capital improvements financed with the tax revenues. If we passed a $50 million 3 year jail tax we could for example purchase the former Weyerhaeuser mill property at Mt. Pine. It has sewer, water, electricity, railroad (to bring in pre-fab sections like the malvern prison did), and fiber optic cable (for video court appearances). We could easily buy such a property, secure it, and use inmate labor to start building a jail that expands as needed over time. The $50 million might provide enough interest income to operate the additional cost of a larger jail if the city and county continued to fund the jail. Our existing facility in town could be used as a booking, and court appearance facility.

The Garland County Jail Tax