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Libertyville OKs federally mandated upgrade for police radios

Libertyville is the most recent suburb to approve an upgrade in police radios that's being touted as a vast improvement in communication for law enforcement officers.

The new STARCOM21 system will replace a 1970s-era network, and allow the village to beat a federally mandated deadline for departments to get off their current UHF radio network.

On Tuesday, the village board approved the purchase of STARCOM radio equipment in a no-bid contract with Motorola Solutions worth up to $170,000. That will buy portable radios and related equipment for 48 sworn personnel.

The village also will pay about $21,000 a year for 10 years for its share of required upgrades to the Vernon Hills dispatch center, which provides Libertyville's emergency dispatch services. Libertyville police are part of what is known as the Central Lake County Radio Network, with Vernon Hills, Mundelein and Lincolnshire.

"We've all been part of the same radio network since the 1970s. It's time for a radio network upgrade," said Police Chief Clint Herdegen.

The planned upgrade comes after the Federal Communications Commission reallocated radio frequencies and gave law enforcement agencies until 2019 to find an alternative.

The village's options to meet the requirement included building another stand-alone network and share in the estimated $6 million cost or join the STARCOM Radio Network operated statewide by Motorola for government agencies.

With the Lake County Sheriff's Office and other local agencies joining the Motorola network, the company is allowing others to link in at rates negotiated earlier by the county, according to Herdegen.

The village currently pays about $39,000 per year in operating costs for its radio network, Herdegen said.

With STARCOM, the village will pay about $20,000 a year, not including the costs of upgrades at the dispatch center or the initial $170,000 expense.

Herdegen said the new system will be much more functional. With the current single radio frequency, officers have to wait to talk if it is in use any another officer, and communication can only be shared with others in the Central Lake County network.

The new system is "trunked," meaning it operates on a frequency range that lets multiple users within and outside the department communicate simultaneously or in groups.

The new equipment also will allow Libertyville police talk with anybody else on the STARCOM system, Herdegen added.

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