Buena Park : Cities May Combine Police Radio Facilities

With new budget cuts looming, the police departments of Los Alamitos, Cypress and Seal Beach have taken the first step toward consolidating their communication facilities.

The three cities this week agreed to seek proposals from consultants willing to undertake a consolidation study. The study will cost an estimated $40,000.

Expected to be completed during the summer, the study will analyze how the three cities can best cope with the costly conversion to a new and more powerful radio system planned to be in operation countywide by 1994.

“The study was prompted by budget issues,” Cypress Police Chief Daryl Wicker said. “We want to know how we could stretch the budget dollar and if one dispatch center is more feasible than three.”

As a result of state budget cuts last summer, Los Alamitos, Cypress and Seal Beach have shared a court liaison officer and a consultant to monitor compliance with state laws on waste disposal, among other municipal services.

Wicker said sharing dispatching services could be the start of more cooperation in police services in the future, including possible sharing of booking facilities and record keeping.

The county’s plan for a more powerful law enforcement radio system by next year would require cities to convert their old dispatch consoles. Los Alamitos Police Chief James Guess said in a report to the City Council that it would cost at least $100,000 for each city to upgrade the old consoles.

In the case of Los Alamitos, Guess said that sum would be in addition to $240,000 the city has already set aside for computer upgrades and purchase of other equipment needed for the new system.

“Given the costs, it would be prudent to have a consulting firm investigate the possibilities of a regional dispatch center,” Guess said.

La Palma was set to join the merger but decided to back out.

Wicker said the cities’ radio equipment has become obsolete and that the current system, which Orange County police radios have been operating for the last 20 years, is now cluttered with radio traffic.

Wicker said the study will determine whether a new dispatching center should be constructed and where it should be located.

If the consolidation is completed, the new center will serve the three cities’ combined population of more than 83,000 over an area of roughly 23 square miles. The three police forces have a total of 119 police officers and 15 dispatchers.

Last year, the three cities received more than 45,000 service calls, a Los Alamitos police report said.