New Radio Channel Will Bolster South County's Emergency Toolkit

A $200,000 grant from the Urban Area Security Initiative will give South County police the ability to operate two long-range radio channels simultaneously by September, a major asset in coordinating a large-scale emergency response, according to Gilroy police Capt. Jim Gillio.

“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” the captain said.

Right now, Gilroy and Morgan Hill each have a single long-range "repeating" frequency to communicate with their units in the field. In a large-scale incident, such as the , that radio channel will be entirely devoted to coordinating the response.

During those incidents, remaining officers are stuck with the short-range “non-repeating” channel typically used to communicate unit-to-unit.

“During those incidents, all of our resources are taxed,” said the captain. “Dispatch can get to them, but they can’t respond back.”

With the new equipment, Gillio said that the region will be able to maintain regular radio communication and coordinate a large-scale emergency operation simultaneously.

“If there is a problem, we can switch to the secondary channel,” said the captain.

The Gilroy City Council approved the upgrade to the city’s radio system last week, allocating money that will be reimbursed by the combined state and federal funds in the UASI program.

When completed, the frequency will be available to both Gilroy and Morgan Hill.

Gilroy’s police chief, Denise Turner, successfully lobbied for the funds after learning that the UASI program’s unused money would simply return to the government, said Gillio.

“It’s free stuff!” joked Councilman Bob Dillon after hearing the grant details at the council’s meeting.

It wouldn’t be the first time that city operated with two repeating channels: During the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, additional equipment is brought in to facilitate a repeating channel for the festival itself while leaving another open for regular police work, said the captain.

Morgan Hill already owns the license to the broadcast frequency that will be used for the new system, though it is only used for short-range communication. When bolstered with the new equipment, the system will stretch from south of the Coyote Creek Golf Course to south of Gilroy, or possibly farther, said the captain.

Agencies from beyond the South County will know to switch to the new channel when providing aid in the region.

The new equipment will bolster the backup microwave radio system that's in place to facilitate communication between Gilroy and Morgan Hill, said Gillio.

Per the terms of the grant, Gilroy will have the system up and running by Sept. 1.

“It’s a very tight timeline,” said Gillio.