On Dec. 2, the Watsonville City Council approved a plan to join a countywide network of first responder agencies in a state-of-the-art emergency radio system.
On Dec. 9, Santa Cruz County followed suit, agreeing to be a part of the Regional Interoperability Next Generation (RING) system, a digitized system that will allow all of the county’s law enforcement agencies, firefighters and others to use encrypted lines when responding to emergencies.
It will replace the current outdated system and bring the county in line with the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System.
The system will block the use of scanners by residents who like to know what’s going on and by the press. Some cities have made exceptions and given newsrooms access to encrypted scanners.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Chris Clark said that it is yet to be decided how information will be shared with news outlets.
“That will be a piece of this going forward, to allow our media partners access to what’s going on in near-real time,” he said. “Making sure the community and the media know what’s going on around them.”
It also adheres to a 2020 law requiring that confidential data such as victim information and criminal histories be kept off emergency frequencies.
Officials say the need for a new communications system is evidenced by critical incidents such as the 2020 murder of Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, when numerous agencies were involved in looking for the suspect.
They also say that Watsonville Police chasing suspects into Monterey County frequently cannot communicate effectively with dispatchers there.
Assistant County Executive Officer Elise Benson called the system, run by Irving, Texas-based E.F. Johnson Company, “a new day in critical communications infrastructure for first responders.”
Benson said that the county’s myriad agencies currently use a patchwork of systems that too often do not allow jurisdictions to hear or communicate with each other.
“So we are moving toward a totally modern approach to providing vital communications infrastructure,” she said.
Because many regions are remote and rural, Benson said, the current radio system only covers 65% of the county.
The RING system is guaranteed to raise that number to 95%, said former Santa Cruz Fire Chief Jim Frawley, who is serving as a consultant for the county in its search for a new system.
A master service agreement will be shared by the cities of Watsonville, Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz and Capitola, along with the county and UC Santa Cruz, Frawley said.
All those jurisdictions—which will share governance, operational responsibilities and finances—have already signed on, with the Capitola City Council giving the final seal of approval on Dec. 11.
These will be part of a single governance system to oversee the system, whereas before it was a piecemeal approach with each department managing its own communications.
“So we are moving toward a totally modern approach to providing vital communications infrastructure,” Benson said.
Tammie Weigl, the county’s information technology director, called the system “the most important communications project that we have undergone at the county in my entire career.”
Weigl said that the county negotiated a $10 million discount from the original $28 million price tag, and with UCSC agreeing to cover $2.7 million, the remaining $15.8 million will be shared across the other member agencies.
Frawley estimated that those costs could range from $80,000 per year for smaller agencies to around $300,000 for larger ones like the Central Fire Protection District.
The cost will be shared in part by the agencies based on how many of the specialized radios they have.
County senior administrative analyst said that will amount to roughly $110 per device per month.
The project is expected to begin in January, and be completed in June 2028.
Frawley said that first responders’ broadcasts will still be sent over the same frequencies they use now, and that media and citizens with police radios will still be able to hear firefighters’ activities.
That’s because local agencies have signaled they will not use the optional fee-based encryption feature, he said.
Supervisor Manu Koenig called the system “a response to a clearly identified problem.”
“We cannot continue to respond to major disasters in our community with 65% coverage,” he said. “It’s just unacceptable. The inability for our police in Watsonville to conduct a chase south of the county line is unacceptable.”
Supervisor Justin Cummings directed staff to explore funding methods, such as tapping into funds from Measure Q, a parcel tax created to raise money for water quality, wildfire prevention and habitat restoration projects. He also asked whether the county can use Measure K funds. That half-cent sales tax is raising money for general government use. Both were approved in the November 2024 election.
Cummings also told staff to seek state and federal grants and to engage with state and federal officials for funding line items to be added to the state budget.
The financing portion will return to the board during budget talks in June.
