St Lucie County
St. Lucie County Commissioners unanimously approved more than $12 million in upgrades to the security equipment at the county jail and the 800 MHZ radio system used by all public safety agencies and first responders throughout the county.
The $9 million upgrades to the 800 MHZ radio system will bring the county’s aging system up to current standards and provide support to first responders and public safety agencies. The Motorola radio system will be upgraded throughout the 15-year agreement in order to keep the system current throughout the term. The existing radio system is 17 years old and is used by all law enforcement, fire-rescue and government agencies within St. Lucie County. Because of the age of the system, many of the hardware manufacturers no longer exist. St. Lucie County is partnering with Martin County on the system upgrades to take advantage of sharing radio towers and reducing costs (estimated to be more than $4 million overall). County Commissioners agreed to a phased upgrade of the current system instead of purchasing a new system. The county’s consultants identified more than $3 million worth of existing radios that would need be replaced if an entirely new system were to be purchased.
“Cities and counties have boundaries, but bad guys don’t,” said Commission Vice Chair Chris Dzadovsky who made the motion to approve the agenda item during the meeting, adding that this upgrade creates a “great partnership” to improve public safety across the region.
On a separate item, the Board approved more than $3.2 million in security upgrades at the St. Lucie County Jail. These new improvements will bring the jail into compliance with state of the art technologies including video surveillance and electronic security controls that will improve the ability of the Sheriff’s staff to provide a safe and secure environment at the Rock Road facility.
