A Local Government's Approach to Public Safety Interoperable Communications

DeWayne Rose, Director of Emergency Management, The City of West Memphis

Improving and enhancing emergency and interoperable communications is a national responsibility shared by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners (emergency communications state, local, tribal, and territorial coordination). The City of West Memphis has historically operated on a lean budget, with little extra revenue to expand infrastructure. In 2021, the City of West Memphis was notified that it would receive $6,639,347.00 from the American Rescue Plan. The City of West Memphis Office of Emergency Management immediately began communicating with the Mayor’s office to request funding be dedicated to a public safety interoperable communications project. The OEM director scheduled several meetings with the Mayor and Finance Director for the city. During these meetings, a broad picture was painted to illustrate the dire situation of public safety communications in West Memphis. The West Memphis Police are operating on a commercial grade (non-P25 compliant) radio system that is 15+ years old. The system is failing, and parts are not available to repair the system. The West Memphis Fire is operating on a digital/analog combination system. The other City of West Memphis operations, including utility, public works, building, airport, and animal control, all operate on individual systems. None of the listed radio systems can communicate with each other, and all are dated and in poor condition. It was discussed that other public safety agencies in Crittenden County have migrated to the AWIN system, and we cannot communicate with our neighboring partners. With the knowledge of the situation public safety communications are in, the Mayor agreed to dedicate $2,000,000.00 of the American Rescue Plan funding to the City of West Memphis Interoperable Communication Project.

The OEM Director spoke to each council member individually. During these meetings, the director explained the cost of the system the city is trying to secure. It was discussed that ARP funding would be used to initiate the project, but additional revenues would be needed to obtain the system the city needs. A financing plan was established by the city’s Finance Director to secure funding for the project. All the city councilors expressed their interest in the project during these individual meetings. Most were very concerned that the City of West Memphis could not communicate with each other or our neighbors.

" Improving and enhancing emergency and interoperable communications is a national responsibility shared by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners "

The OEM director met with the Arkansas Interoperability Commission Executive Committee and explained the case for West Memphis joining the system. The director advised the AICEC that the City of West Memphis will need 35 talk groups on this system. In addition to the City of West Memphis talk groups, AWIN has an Arkansas Basic Interoperability Template built into every subscriber radio. This template has numerous mutual aid channels that can be used or assigned for various multi-agency functions. This will allow total interoperability for all City of West Memphis departments and will allow us communications with neighboring cities/jurisdictions. Police and fire will be the largest user of the system. The AICEC unanimously approved the project and extended their pleasure in welcoming West Memphis. In our project, we will upgrade the 4-channel site currently being operated in Crittenden County to a 6-channel simulcast site. This addition will assist AWIN with its current “busy” situation in Crittenden County. This partnership with Crittenden County Government is incredible and will be the first time all public safety agencies in Crittenden County have operated on the same system.

Since some assets for the AWIN system exist in Crittenden County, it was necessary to incorporate those into the West Memphis project. A tower site in Shell Lake, Arkansas (AWIN D11) and a tower site at the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center (AWIN D21) will be used, and an additional tower site will be erected in West Memphis to complete the simulcast portion of the project. The communication centers at the West Memphis Police Department and the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department were evaluated. A needs list was created to migrate these radio rooms to the AWIN system. It was determined that due to ACT 660 of 2019 requiring Public Safety Answering Points to merge, the City of West Memphis would design this system to be built at the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center. The City of West Memphis has until January 1, 2025, to merge with Crittenden County, but building at the West Memphis Police Department and moving will be an unnecessary cost to taxpayers. This system will save taxpayer dollars in West Memphis and throughout Crittenden County. The citizens of West Memphis have been very supportive of public safety and continue to show their support for this communications project. City of West Memphis AWIN is scheduled to be completed by December 2024.