Juneau’s public safety radio system hardly works. This election, Juneau voters are being asked to overhaul it for $12.7M.

Juneau Police Department Officer Terry Allen talks into a power while connected patrol work successful downtown Juneau connected Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)

City officials opportunity nan power strategy that constabulary and firefighters successful Juneau usage is outdated. It was only designed for an eight-year lifespan and that expired a decade ago.

Though nan strategy still operates, constabulary officers like Terry Allen say it’s hardly reliable anymore. 

“It’s deed and miss,” he said during a patrol downtown past week. “You tin beryllium opinionated present and beryllium clear arsenic day, and past 15 feet away, you can’t perceive thing but static.”

The metropolis is asking voters for $12.7 cardinal to walk connected nan task successful this year’s section election. That money would beryllium taken retired arsenic enslaved debt. It’s Proposition 1 connected nan ballot. But immoderate critics opportunity nan metropolis should person group speech money to salary for this a agelong clip ago.

Allen has been a patrol serviceman pinch JPD for 24 years. He said having a moving and reliable power is important for his safety. Right now, nan radios that officers and firefighters deterioration don’t activity wrong astir buildings. And, they often deed dormant zones adjacent mountainsides and successful patches scattered passim nan borough. 

“If you’re successful a business wherever you request thief and you can’t get backmost to your car, and you’re hoping personification tin get to you, waiting 3 minutes for dispatch to recognize that you’re successful problem because they don’t moreover cognize you’re successful trouble, and past trying to get personification to you, that’s a agelong time,” he said. 

Radio infrastructure utilized by nan Juneau Police Department. (Juneau Police Department)

Capital City Fire/Rescue Chief Rich Etheridge said for emergencies for illustration location fires aliases nan caller glacial outburst flooding, not being capable to pass to crews wrong buildings tin beryllium deadly. 

“I deliberation it’s critical,” he said. “It’s nan main constituent successful each emergency business successful nan community. Not being capable to pass pinch crews wrong of a burning building, it puts america astatine a immense liability of hurting aliases sidesplitting someone.”

The strategy is besides important for dispatchers for illustration Meghan Kennedy-Brown. She’s been doing nan occupation for more than 16 years. 

“It’s for illustration a pet aliases a kid — if you can’t make judge that they’re safe, you get very stressed out,” she said. “Because our occupation is to make judge they’re safe and make judge they person nan devices they need, and it’s for illustration taking 1 of our devices away.”

Now nan determination of whether aliases not to switch it will travel down to voters. The caller task requires fixing aliases replacing connection towers astatine a costs of astir $25 cardinal successful total. So voters are only being asked to salary for astir half of it. The different half is being paid for pinch national grants, erstwhile metropolis appropriations and immoderate income taxation funding. 

According to nan city, nan mill complaint isn’t expected to spell up if nan enslaved passes, because nan metropolis has nan capacity to return connected much indebtedness correct now. A information of nan mill complaint is group speech for indebtedness work and that money goes toward paying disconnected bonds nan metropolis has taken connected complete nan years.

According to a study by KTOO, astir candidates moving for Assembly seats this predetermination opportunity they are successful favour of nan proposition passing. But several, for illustration mayoral campaigner Angela Rodell, said they don’t for illustration nan measurement nan metropolis wants to salary for it. She said astir it astatine a nationalist information forum earlier this month.

“One of nan things I’m very concerned astir is why this enslaved rumor is coming this year,” she said. “ Why it hasn’t travel earlier now? To me, this is thing that should person been taken attraction of a agelong clip ago, and we request to attraction connected making judge that basal services are covered successful existent operating budgets.”

In ray of a caller fatal shooting successful Juneau involving constabulary officers, group successful nan organization person been calling for much transparency in nan department. 

JPD’s existent power strategy doesn’t fto them encrypt their communications – that’s erstwhile nan awesome gets trim disconnected to nan wide public. But Police Chief Derek Bos said nan caller strategy would. 

“That doesn’t mean that everything would beryllium encrypted, truthful that’s thing we still would person to navigate arsenic acold arsenic policies go, and erstwhile we would encrypt aliases erstwhile we wouldn’t, what that would look like,” Bos said. 

JPD doesn’t person thing successful its policies astir encryption. But, Bos said he’d for illustration to get thing connected nan books earlier nan caller strategy goes live. That would hap done a nationalist process pinch nan Assembly. 

“Encryption does person a important worth for rule enforcement. A bully illustration of that would beryllium if we person an progressive shooter successful a school,” he said. “We cognize nationally that nan progressive shooters will perceive to nan scanners to spot what nan constabulary are doing truthful that they tin move distant from nan officers arsenic we’re entering nan school.”

The power proposition is conscionable 1 of 3 propositions connected nan ballot for this year’s municipal election. Ballots were sent to voters’ mailboxes connected Thursday. Election Day is Oct. 1.

Find much section Juneau predetermination sum astatine ktoo.org/elections.