(Spirit Lake)– Plans to convert transmissions from the Dickinson County Communications Center to a digital format effective June 15th are now being pushed back until after Labor Day.
The transition will effect transmissions from the county’s law enforcement agencies. They’ve spent the past several years preparing for the transition and have purchased radios capable of receiving and transmitting digital signals.
But the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has NOT been part of the transition plans, and its Lake Patrol officers aren’t ready for the conversion, meaning they wouldn’t be able to communicate with county officials once the change is made.
Phil Peterson of the Water Safety Council and Gary Owen, an enforcement officer with the Iowa DNR, were at today’s (Tues.) 911 commission meeting requesting the transition be delayed until after Labor Day. Owen said the transition would make it impossible for Lake Patrol officers to communicate with other agencies in the event of some kind of emergency.
Sheriff Greg Baloun was against delaying the transition, saying it’s something the county has been working on ever since the new communications center was built. He added the DNR should have known the transition was coming.
After further discussion, it was the unanimous consent of the commission to delay the transition until after Labor Day.
Peterson told the commission the delay will give the Water Safety Council time to raise money to purchase the needed radios for the DNR, since it’s unlikely the state will provide that funding.
The transition to a digital format will make most police scanners currently in operation useless once it takes place.
