September 10, 2003
Valdosta - Lowndes County's new communications system could be the key in helping first responders save countless lives. "It's a state of the art system, and it just may make us the best public safety group in the state" said Nick Lacey, Lowndes E.M.A. Director.
All Lowndes County public safety officials are now armed with new 800 MHz Motorola digital radios. The communication system is the first of its kind in Georgia and first responders say it's capabilities are endless. "With our old radios, we'd hit some dead areas and we couldn't even communicate," said Charles Wilson. "With these, we can always get a signal, and can communicate with other agencies."
It's a two part system. This is their first week using the radios but laptop computers were installed in all emergency vehicles several months ago.
"With these computers, we can type in the description of a suspect, for example, and it goes out to all Valdosta police cars and also cars at the sheriff's department," said Sgt. Earl Durrance.
And it's already making Lowndes County a safer place to live. "When we had several drive by shootings recent, we were able to communicate with every public safety employee immediately, and because the lookout was given so fast, we were able to catch the suspects," said Durrance.
The new system cost 7.4 million dollars, but public safety officials say that's a small price to pay to ensure your safety.
posted at 3:00 by ashley.harper@walb.com
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