A donation from Tucson Electric Power Co. has enabled Oro Valley police to communicate during accidents and special events without tying up the Police Department's other radio communication channels.
In June, the Oro Valley Police Department increased the number of radio communication channels it uses from two to three by using a radio frequency donated by TEP.
Previously, special events requiring extra police coverage such as high school football games and holiday events created a lot of police radio traffic congestion, said Gary Schmitz, a police detective who is also the department's information technology manager.
The added channel made a huge difference during last month's Fourth of July celebrations, police officials said.
Two major Fourth of July events take place each year in Oro Valley — one at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort and another at Cañada del Oro Riverfront Park — which increases the amount of officers working that day.
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"Historically, it was a mess because we just had two frequencies," said police spokeswoman Liz Wright. "It was chaotic. We could do it, but it was people talking over each other."
But this year the department was able to reserve one channel for holiday event-related communication.
The department uses the third channel every day, Schmitz said.
When there are traffic collisions or other emergencies, dispatchers can move ongoing communication about the emergency to a separate channel.
Overall, the addition is "huge for us as a police department," Wright said.
The Oro Valley Police Department had been trying to move from two to three channels since about 2002, Schmitz said, but all the channels in the frequency typically used by public safety agencies were already in use in the area. "We didn't know what to do," he said.
Word of Oro Valley's need reached TEP via Bill Winters from Phoenix-based Creative Communications, a Motorola two-way radio dealer. Both TEP and Oro Valley are the company's clients, Winters said.
"We were just trying to help out two good customers," he said.
TEP offered to donate one of its frequencies and some equipment, as well as share its transmitter location in the Tortolita Mountains with Oro Valley police. The company gave a power connection, wires and rack to Oro Valley police.
The Police Department still had to buy about $5,000 of equipment, Schmitz said, but TEP's donation saved the police department thousands of dollars.
TEP had radio frequencies that it didn't have to use because it had switched to a digital system that sends transmissions at 800 megahertz, said company spokesman Joseph Barrios.
For two decades, TEP had licensed the 460 megahertz frequency now used by Oro Valley police. TEP used it for data and, in the past, pager transmissions, he said.
TEP decided to donate it and use of its existing location to Oro Valley police. "We saw it as an opportunity to help the Police Department," Barrios said.
The transmitter's mountain location itself helps improve police communication, Schmitz said. The height gives police a clear connection so that officers and dispatchers can hear each other. Plus, the site is air-conditioned and has battery backup.
