Upgrading Regional Communications System Will Be Costly

When major incidents happen in the Coachella Valley, police officers are able to communicate with officers from other departments and agencies.

“Interoperability it’s called, so in the event of the disaster we have the ability to communicate between jurisdictions and that’s important for public safety,” says Palm Springs City Manager David Ready who is also on the Technical Advisory Committee (T.A.C.) of the Eastern Riverside Interoperable Communications Authority, or E.R.I.C.A..

The communications system set up by E.R.I.C.A. is made up of five cities: Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Indio, Desert Hot Springs and Beaumont. The communications system has been in place for almost a decade.

“So obviously it’s time for new equipment and they’re in the process of understanding what the cost will be,” says Ready.

T.A.C. has been working to figure out their best options which include joining the county system or staying as is. Early estimates to upgrade the main system all cities connect to and new radios could range anywhere from $17 – $20 million.

“So we’re looking at probably a $3 million cost in the city just for our radios another couple million for a cad, computer agent dispatch system in addition to the E.R.I.C.A. which could be another $3 million, we paid $3 million ten yeas ago,” he says adding he expects that cost to be higher than ten years ago. 

And most cities are still paying for the system in place now.

“So basically you end up paying for one system and you continue paying for a newer system but the important part of that is again we have a reliable emergency communication and the best and most recent technology available system and the best and most reliable,” says Ready.