Grant County dispatchers face staffing shortages as radio phase 2 upgrade is rolled back; FirstNet push-to-talk tested

Grant County public-safety technology and personnel issues featured prominently in updates at the Aug. 5 meeting of the Grant County Public Safety Operations Center Policy Board, as officials described a recent radio-system compatibility problem, ongoing FirstNet push-to-talk testing and persistent dispatcher staffing shortages.

Tech committee lead (Kevin) reported that when the county moved the system to “phase 2” on Aug. 5, multiple police departments and the county probation department found their radios were not actually phase-2 ready and could no longer communicate. To restore officer safety communications the county temporarily reverted four dispatch channels and the law operations channels back to phase 1. Agencies were given a 30-day deadline to make their equipment compliant; Kevin said vendors’ contacts and upgrade options were forwarded to agencies and that one department (Fairmount PD) has already completed its upgrade.

Kevin said equipment vendors and integrators mentioned in the discussion include ERS for Motorola, J and K Communications for Kenwood and JBC Kenwood (manufacturer), and that county staff expect to return to phase 2 once agencies report readiness.

Director Hicks reported FirstNet equipment has been installed at the Liberty site and that five FirstNet radios are on site; four radios were purchased using ARPA funds and Marion Health paid for the fifth radio. Hicks said he has one county device already live on the FirstNet system and planned a coordination meeting with Cubic (device manufacturer) and AT&T FirstNet to finish configuration at the site. Marion PD expressed interest in joining the FirstNet setup to expand redundancy.

Discussion during the meeting also covered push-to-talk options for staff phones. Attendees noted there are two tiers of push-to-talk service: a higher-grade “rapid response” option (described in the meeting as clearer and faster) that carries a higher per-phone cost (participants mentioned about $15 per phone) and a lower-cost option (about $2 per phone).

On personnel, Director Hicks reported the dispatch center has 16 dispatchers, two of whom are in training. He said Catherine Collier started on Monday on day shift; a trainee named Marissa was on night shift and expected to finish training within the next rotation. Recruitment has had setbacks: one applicant who passed testing did not complete drug screening in the expected two-week window and another candidate failed to appear for a scheduled test. Hicks said the county is still actively receiving applications and will schedule interviews for promising applicants.

Training committee updates noted center-management certification completed by a staff member and plans to send additional staff to the state-run class and to take the Emergency Number Professional exam, a proctored certification with a reported $500 exam fee. The sheriff’s office agreed to provide a van to transport dispatchers to off-site training.

Board members asked staff to notify agencies when FirstNet services and push-to-talk are ready for wider use. Tech staff said they would coordinate permissions and rep onboarding for each agency.

No formal votes were recorded specific to the phase 2 rollback or FirstNet installation during the meeting; the actions recorded were operational directions and vendor coordination.