Completion of emergency communications project celebrated

Completion of a countywide emergency communications project was celebrated with an open house at the Concordia Police Department on Wednesday.
Cloud County received a federal grant from the United States Department of Justice Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) Office to fund the $310,000 project.
In March 2022, United States Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, the lead Republican on the appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice and science, announced $11,540,00 in funding for Kansas law enforcement.
The Concordia Police Department was one of 28 Kansas agencies to receive funding.
“I do want to make sure that federal dollars that come to Kansas are spent in appropriate ways that are beneficial, and I am sure I will see today that this is the case with what happens here in Cloud County with the resources that have been provided,” Moran said when speaking to those in attendance at the open house.
Included in the emergency communications systems upgrades were the purchase of generators for five locations to power the radio repeaters throughout the county at a cost of $95,000, the purchase of new handheld radios and vehicle radios for the Concordia Police Department, the Cloud County Sheriff's Department, the Concordia Fire Department/EMS and Cloud County Rural Fire at a cost of $162,000, and the remodeling of the dispatch center at the Concordia Police Department.
While speaking during the open house, Concordia Police Chief Brent Gering provided statistics on activity at the dispatch center.
During April, there were 244 911 calls received and 1,961 administrative calls. During May, there were 438 911 calls and 1,461 administrative calls.
“We are very busy here. All over Cloud County: Fire and EMS, rural fire, sheriff's department, police department,” Gering said.
Cloud County Sheriff Ken Davis said that he learned how well the community can come together during the process of  upgrading the communications system.
Concordia Fire Chief Eric Voss said that the upgrades are great for fire and EMS.
“What we have done here is going to enhance our system tremendously, with the generators, so we don't lose that communication. Now, being able to get all of the rural fire and the rural EMS on one radio system, when we have the big Jamestown fires, we are going to be able to communicate and not have that communication issue, which in turn could cost a life. So this is lifesaving,” Voss said.
The upgraded communications system includes text-to-911 capability, text translation in over 70 languages and one-way video that can be initiated to increase situational awareness for the responders.