JESSUP -- Lackawanna County officials say they've had problems with their emergency radio system for years. A long-awaited upgrade is coming this week.
Should you have to call 911, your call comes to the 911 Center in Jessup. Dispatchers then send your information to police, firefighters, or EMTs through a radio system.
County officials say their radio service has been spotty for years. It's sometimes difficult to communicate with first responders in outlying areas of the county, but a new system should help.
When a first responder receives a radio call, it's sent from a tower like the one on top of Scranton's Engine Nine on North Main Avenue. This tower and others throughout Lackawanna County were in need of an upgrade, the first in at least two decades.
"One of the big problems we had with the old system was maintenance. Because it was 20 or 30 years old, it was very hard to keep it running, so it's been a big challenge for the past four years to keep that system up and running while we did this," said Lackawanna County 911 Director David Hahn.
Hahn says that much-needed upgrade is paid for with savings from maintenance contracts. Close to $4 million was spent on new radio receivers that require less maintenance and will improve radio communication.
Along with those new radio receivers, the county is also adding more radio towers. There were five throughout all of Lackawanna County, including one at Old Forge High School. Soon, there will be 14.
"In fairness to the county, they're addressing it as best they can, but it's also become very serious," said Clarks Summit Police Chief Chris Yarns.
Chief Yarns expects one of those new towers in his borough. He says, for several months, his officers can hear dispatchers through their radios but the dispatchers sometimes can't hear them.
"The officer has to continue to repeat it, and other option, two other options and we've done both, is to switch to a different channel or call on a phone, cellphone. We've had to do both."
County officials say the new system will solve that problem.
The new system is an analog signal. A digital system would cost nearly $30 million more but the 911 director is looking in that direction, searching for grants to eventually upgrade the signal.
