County 9‑1‑1 officials brief council on radio replacement: 22 sites, encrypted police talk groups and April cutover

Snohomish County 9‑1‑1 staff and public‑safety chiefs briefed the County Council on March 19 about the county’s multi‑year radio replacement project, describing a nearly completed infrastructure upgrade, equipment already issued to agencies and near‑term operational plans including an April cutover.

Kurt Mills, executive director for Snohomish County 9‑1‑1, told the council the consolidated dispatch center now supports more than 1,500 emergency calls per day and has issued over 5,000 police and fire radios across county agencies. The radio system replacement was funded in part by a 1 percent sales tax voters approved in February 2018 to support emergency communications and facilities, Mills said.

Mills described the infrastructure changes: the new system includes about 22 radio sites, two of which are new tower locations in North Stanwood and Machias intended to improve countywide coverage. He said moving to a digital system will roughly double capacity and reduce occurrences where users are unable to key up and speak (commonly called a “bonk” on the legacy network). He also said the county has set aside funds for ongoing maintenance and future lifecycle replacement so the system can remain supportable without returning to voters for new funding.

Operational changes highlighted by presenters include full encryption of police talk groups at the chiefs’ direction, which will end public monitoring of police radio traffic after the cutover. Chief Dave DeMarco of Everett and other chiefs at the table described the move as a safety and operational improvement. “As we cut over on April 8, it will be very true that any public safety user in Snohomish County can key up a radio and talk to any other public safety user in the county without a bonk,” DeMarco said.

Project funding and procurement details presented to the council included an approximate $23 million equipment procurement for radios already issued to agencies, as well as a long‑range 15‑year funding plan that includes periodic refresh and ongoing site maintenance. Mills said vendors will perform scheduled upgrades every two to three years to keep site equipment current, and that the county has budgeted to replace radios and infrastructure on a lifecycle that aims to avoid future voter asks for similar equipment.

Presenters outlined benefits beyond capacity and coverage: modernized redundancy to reduce single points of failure, programs to replace lost or damaged radios, replacement of aging batteries and centralized equipment management that reduces costs for smaller agencies.

Council members asked operational questions about population growth assumptions and noted a website/records issue: one council member asked staff to coordinate links so that the public can find current radio advisory board materials on the correct site rather than older pages that appear to end in 2018.

The presenters said the SNOW 9‑1‑1 board would receive a deeper demonstration and hands‑on session for board members the next day, and a press event was planned for April 30; presenters said the system cutover was scheduled for April 8.