No changes anticipated

 By JACKIE TAYLOR and BARBARA PROFFITT

"A young lady from Prescott inquired about a new frequency," said Commissioner Herb Pemberton to Sheriff Barry Walker. Commissioner Vicki Leonard had also heard from a constituent about concerns of frequency changes and possible voids in law enforcement scanner traffic.

According to Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Barlet in an earlier conversation, "This does not replace the VHF system the county currently has. This gives us the ability, using a KDOT (Kansas Department of Transportation) system, to reach state emergency

management - or any other agency - through my radio. In a disaster this would expedite things drastically."

Barlet said that in an event such as another major flood it would allow several agencies to communicate seamlessly with each other.

He continued that radios were given to each of the police chiefs in the county with the remainder distributed throughout the various departments (Sheriff, EM and Fire) that need them, with each department paying for the installation, a minimal cost compared to the price of the radios themselves.

Sheriff Barry Walker responded to the commissioners on questions concerning a new frequency and said no new frequency has been issued or is being used.

"Nothing changed about the radio system whatsoever," said Walker. "We call it scanner-land out there. You can't believe how many people are listening."

Walker continued that there are many times when the department has operations in place where scanner traffic impedes those operations. He said they are currently looking into push-to-talk systems with Verizon and Blackberry systems with instantaneous e-mail and texting.

"The problem is - how do you text and drive at the same time," commented Walker.

Commissioner Mike Page asked, "So there is no immediate concern?" to which Walker answered none that he knew of.

Walker later mentioned that his 800 MHz radio is kept on a shelf for the time when he actually needed it. He said he was issued five radios, two of which he is going to put into travel cases with plug-ins that fit any car cigarette lighter. He said the radio can then be moved to the mobile command center or any other vehicle where it may be needed.

He said only an agency like Northwest Kansas Regional Homeland Security Council with unlimited funds could hope to fully use the system the county was given.

In the event the radios do go into service, scanners capable of picking up 800 MHz signals are available.

Various retailers, such as Radio Shack, carry the new digital handhelds and desktop scanners which include PC interface capability for around $400 each, making a hobby or interest that used to be fairly cheap to maintain (an average scanner costs $100 or less, plus costs of batteries - regular or rechargeable and various accessories) a little harder.

Modern scanners are also PC compatible, allowing the unit to interface through a USB port for programming with software available that allows the listener to control their scanner through their keyboard, allowing frequency changes to pick up other communications.