There are times when Lake County Sheriff Clinton Grinnell says his deputies make calls on their police radios and no one answers.
No one hears them.
The sheriff said the deputies are in “dead spots” around Lake County where the county’s aging current radio system simply doesn’t work.
“These dead spots are not very big and there aren’t very many of them,” Grinnell said. “But when they occur, they are of concern.
“For the men in the field, their communications system is as essential as their car.”
Earlier this year, a consultant’s study on the sheriff’s department said the two-way radio system needs upgrading. Some of the radios are so old, Grinnell said, that replacement parts can’t be found.
In September, the sheriff followed the consultant’s recommendation and asked the Lake County Board to approve an independent study on the communications system. That request still is pending before the board’s Law and Judiciary Committee.
Grinnell said he does not want to spend any money upgrading the system and replacing radios until some communications experts tell him what to do. “We need someone who is an expert in communications to tell us how we can get the most bang for our buck,” he said.
The sheriff’s office communications center and transmitting tower are on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville. Various “satellites” spread out around the county can retransmit the signal.
But even then, Grinnell said, there are a few spots in the county where, sometimes due to environmental factors, a radio signal cannot be received or sent.
“One of the things we want answered in this study is whether our satellites and tower are in the right place,” Grinnell said in a Monday interview. “We’ve also got this problem with getting parts for some of our older radios that are 10 years or older. To get parts we have to take them from other radios.
“These are all concerns to our deputies out there,” he added. “The deputies could be going into buildings with their radios and not be able to transmit out.”
Members of the Law and Judiciary Committee said Monday they did not know when Grinnell’s request would be acted upon. The regular meeting of the committee that was scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled.
