Deschutes 911: We’ll meet 60-day radio fix goal

Law enforcement in Deschutes County soon could be able to communicate better, now that engineers have received a temporary tower to help with radio dispatches on the west side of Bend that have had serious issues since an upgrade to a new system several months ago.

Sara Crosswhite, deputy director of the 911 service district, told NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday that the district received the temporary trailer from the Oregon Department of Transportation today.

Crosswhite said the trailer will have a temporary tower on Overturf Butte, which will help officers communicate with dispatch.

She said the tower will be up and running soon, and the district plans to have a permanent tower by the end of the year.

The agency officials said they will meet the 60-day goal to fix problems, which was set by county commissioners in February.

In January, all seven county law enforcement unions filed a joint complaint with local leaders, and one filed a complaint with the state that a new digital radio system installed last July works so poorly, it puts their lives — and those of the public they serve — at risk.

The 911 district has five tower sites around the county that help officers communicate with dispatch.

Crosswhite said the radio antennas installed at St. Charles Bend were installed correctly, contrary to what other media reports state.

She said the panels were intended to work for the tower site located on Jackpine Avenue, but the district realized the tower was overworked.

“So, as we optimized, we discovered a plan and we’re putting that together to put omni antennas, which are the ones that rotate around, so those will be up there,” she said. “We’re developing a plan right now, and hopefully we’ll have that out, probably within the next two weeks, so we can provide better coverage to the east side”

County engineers have met with Harris, the company that installed the equipment, on a weekly basis and the long list of issues have been reduced.

The county commissioners should be getting another update by next month.