PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After years of planning, preparation, and anticipation, Delaware County’s emergency services are finally stepping into the 21st century.
For this project, 21 radio towers will be upgraded within and around the county so they can work more congruently and efficiently. Council Vice Chair Elaine Paul Schaefer says this $40 million project will improve their public safety radio system.
“To ensure our first responders across the county have the tools and resources they need to communicate with each other in real-time in order to effectively respond to crisis and deploy critically needed emergency services,” she said.
Director of emergency services Timothy Boyce says this update is the first in nearly five decades.
“It’s really not built for modern communications network and you cannot talk from one district to the other,” he said. “Those failures have really shown multiple times in recent events.”
About 4,000 portable radios and mobiles will also be issued to first responders in the county.
The upgrades are expected to be completed in 2025.