The City of Fredericksburg is hosting a ribbon cutting of its new public safety radio system at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016. The event at Fredericksburg Police Headquarters, 2200 Cowan Blvd., will be followed by tours of the city’s communications center and demonstrations of the new system. The event is open to the public.
The city partnered with the Stafford County public safety radio system to replace its system, which was first installed in the 1970’s and upgraded through the years.
The new system represents a significant step forward in public safety communications and a success in regional cooperation, according to Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw. “Our emergency communications will be more robust, and we are grateful to have Stafford County as our partner in this project. Regionalism works.”
In addition to stronger radio coverage throughout the city, Fredericksburg emergency services staff, including fire, police, rescue and sheriff, will now be able to communicate directly rather than by relay through the city’s 9-1-1 call center, the city said in a press release.
More channels are available in the new system, which will increase capacity within each group or when joint communication is required during an incident or special event. The additional capacity will also enable better communications with other jurisdictions in the event of a regional incident.
