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Police chief: aging radios failed during train derailment response; replacements ordered from department funds
Summary
Police Chief Dorsey thanked mutual-aid partners for the response to a recent train derailment, said several department radios date to 2014–2015 and failed during a critical incident, and said he located $8,000 in budget and an Axon refund to buy replacement radios and pursue a modest command-post capability.
Police Chief Dorsey told council the department had an "excellent" multiagency response to a recent train derailment but that the incident revealed equipment problems: several patrol radios in service date to 2014–2015 and one failed during a critical call. "The radio that I was using was made in 2014," Dorsey said, adding he reviewed other radios and contacted the vendor (Bender) to trace purchase dates.
Dorsey said he identified funding sources—$8,000 already in the department budget plus a refund from Axon—and has ordered replacement radios. He also recommended a small, mobile command-post capability for major incidents so incident leaders can co-locate; he described that as far less costly than the seven-figure command-post examples at large departments. The chief thanked the community and other agencies and reminded residents to submit National Night Out packets by July 28.
