ELYRIA, Ohio — Lorain County first responders are fighting back after millions of dollars for new radios were taken back by the county.
During Monday's meeting, two Lorain County commissioners voted to rescind two separate resolutions passed last month. The resolutions would set aside more than $4 million for upgrades to the county's current public safety radio system. That upgrade to the L3 Harris system would provide coverage for all county fire, police, EMS, sheriff, and emergency management agencies employees on a new interoperable radio system.
But Commissioners David J. Moore and Jeff Riddell say they want to go with a different system. County first responders, including the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, say the new system the commissioners want is not as reliable.
During Monday's meeting, a county dispatcher came forward and told commissioners, "if the radios fail, we all fail, and no one gets the help they need."
Lorain County will now use the MARCS radio system — which is being claimed as "outdated" and "untrustworthy" by county first responders who have to use it daily. Multiple safety agencies in the state use MARCS (multi-agency radio communication system), which is run by the state.
Firefighters from a number of county fire departments and the Lorain County Sheriff's Office have spoken in favor of the resolutions which would have allowed the county to purchase the L3 Harris radio system. Safety officials say that system provides the safest, most effective and up-to-date way for safety workers to communicate.
"With these new buildings, if you don't put boosters in them, with the concrete and the kind of glass they have, then you're not going to get through a signal," Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti explained. "With the Wi-Fi connections with phase two, it will work. L3-Harris meets that criteria, MARCS does not."
Now that the resolutions have been repealed, Stammitti and other Lorain County first responders are frustrated. "Everybody here wants that L3-HARRIS system because that meets the criteria of the future," he added.