OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – When seconds count, first responders need the ability to communicate quickly and without limits.
For many years, Oakland County’s emergency radio system has existed on an island. Now, the county is changing to align with the rest of the state.
“This system that I inherited was 20 years old,” said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. “One community could not talk to another community within Oakland County; that’s bad enough.”
It does not matter if you live in Oakland County or outside of Oakland County.
Oakland County’s 20-year-old radio system, which all Oakland County first responders use, impacted your and your family’s safety, and you likely never knew it.
That’s because Oakland County’s radio system could only work in Oakland County, while all other first responder radio systems across the state could talk to each other anywhere, anytime.
“If you were an officer in Southfield and you were chasing someone into Detroit, you lost radio communications there as well,” Coulter said.
“That is not a safe way to conduct law enforcement.”
After Oakland County made a $61 million upgrade to its radio system, it joins Michigan’s other 82 counties, which can now freely communicate with one another, which is key if there is a massive emergency.
“Tragedies of 911 have certainly revealed to the world the importance of interoperability between agencies,” said Southfield police Chief Elvin Barren
“And most recently, our team, including myself, went to MSU, and we did not have this system operating yet,” said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. “So on so many levels, having a system where we can communicate with partners regardless of where they are all across our state is critically important.”
When the Michigan State University campus shooting went down, law enforcement from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office all started heading towards the campus, but they could not communicate with each other on the radio.
