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Sarasota News Leader April 12, 2013 Page 15 potential bugs in the new technology and talked of plans to proceed with an upgrade for their radio equipment. Tobias made a presentation to the Sarasota County Commission during its regular meeting on April 10 in Sarasota to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of proceeding with the purchase of new equipment compared to upgrading the existing system. THE SYSTEM The Motorola SmartZone 800 MHz Digital Trunked Radio system Sarasota County began using in 1996 was the first of its kind in the nation, Tobias explained. It provides radio communications to all the fire and EMS departments in the county — except the Longboat Key Fire Department — as well as to all the law enforcement agencies except for those on Longboat Key. It also serves non-public safety agencies such as the Sarasota County School Board, Sarasota County Area Transit and public works agencies throughout the county. Altogether, the system has 5,000 field radios, he noted. "We are way ahead of the curve when it comes to interdependability," Tobias pointed out, referring to the fact that all those people can communicate with each other through the same system. Chief Mike Tobias/Photo courtesy Sarasota County pointed out. However, that revenue has come in at a lower rate over the past several years because of the Great Recession. As a result of the age of the 800 MHz system, Tobias said, replacement parts are available only on the market for used equipment. The During 9/11, New York City Police Department county has been acquiring a supply of replaceand Fire Department personnel were unable ment parts to keep on hand. to communicate with each other, he noted, A memo he provided to the commission says, exacerbating the tragedies of that day. "We have had 2 major component failures County surtax revenue originally was pro- since November 2012. We used parts from our grammed to pay for replacing the system, he stock to make the repairs."