WASHINGTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — The Washington County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) is out with the old and in with the new after activating a new radio system on Tuesday, Oct. 31.
Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN) officials say local emergency responders received upgrades to current AWIN towers in Fayetteville and Springdale.
"We went live on our new radio system, as well as our new 911 system," John Luther, the director of emergency services and management for Washington County, said. "So it's a big day for our emergency responders, dispatchers, call takers, and the public."
Since 2004, the county used an older, more conventional trunking system that only allowed communication within the county, but WCSO says this new system allows quicker emergency response times.
"Now we have additional towers in our county that are also interconnected through a network with other towers throughout the state," Luther said. "So we just really expanded our footprint. We now have a way to communicate with our state, local, and federal partners with the FBI, state police, department of corrections, other counties, and other cities that are on it."
Luther says the price tag on this years-long project is a little over $10 million, funded by taxpayers who voted in 2020 on a quarter of a 1-cent increased sales tax.
"The tax had to be collected for one year, which was a hard start and finish date," Luther said. "At that point, we had to meet with the vendor and kind of plan everything out before construction started. "
As of now, first responders have a new handheld radio system to use out in the field, but the county plans to add mobile radios installed in all cars.
The sheriff's office has seven positions, and central EMS has five, which is considered full staff for their department.
There are additional dispatch locations in Fayetteville, Springdale, and at the University of Arkansas.
"This is a huge step forward for collaboration among all emergency services across Washington County and the state," Washington County Judge Patrick Deakins said. "This is simply giving our emergency responders the best, most effective tools to serve our citizens."
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