Legislature approves funding for new public safety communications facility in Jamesport

Public safety communications on the East End got a $1.75 million shot in the arm yesterday from the Suffolk County Legislature.

Legislators unanimously approved bonding and the appropriation of bond proceeds to fund a communications system upgrade that will allow law enforcement agencies and first responders on the East End to communicate with each other and the county police department on the same radio frequencies.

The project provides long-sought communications “inter-operability” for the various law enforcement and public safety agencies on the East End and with county public safety dispatchers — something officials have been working toward since 2001.

It also will provide consistent “portable coverage” with hand-held radios, which officers use when they are out of their vehicles. Currently coverage for hand-held radios is spotty in many locations on the East End, which puts the lives of police officers and the public they serve at risk, County Legislator Bridget Fleming said yesterday.

The project funded yesterday will cover the costs of a new communication tower structure, communications and technology equipment in Jamesport. The site has not yet been finalized, according to Legislator Al Krupski’s office.

Future communications upgrades slated for the East End include sites in Eastport and Southampton, Suffolk County Police Department communications director Mike Postel told the legislature’s public safety committee members.

“This is a life and death situation that’s been going on many years on the East End,” Fleming said.

Southampton Town Police Chief Steven Skrynecki and Sag Harbor Police Chief Austin McGuire spoke in favor of the project at yesterday’s general meeting of the legislature.

McGuire, who is vice president of the East End Police Chiefs Association, told legislators the association supports the effort, which has been in the works since the months following the September 11 terrorist attacks, which highlighted inter-operability deficiencies among law enforcement agencies.

“This will provide seamless communications between county police, other police agencies and first responders,” McGuire said.

Skrynecki agreed. The agencies on the East End operate on different frequencies, the chief said, because they lack the infrastructure to support unified communication.

“This will support that infrastructure and allow us to all operate on the same frequencies,” Skrynecki said.

“It’s very, very critical to public safety as well as the safety of the officers involved,” he said.

The Riverhead Police Department already uses the county radio system, and the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps just upgraded its communication system to one that communicates with the county system — but other East End police departments and first responder agencies are on still using other systems.

The communications project will give the East End Drug Task Force the ability to interface with all the East End police departments, Craig Pavlik of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office told legislators.