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Page 2 of 5 <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.org <br />BACKGROUND <br />Reliable radio communications are essential to police officer safety, effective emergency response, and <br />coordination with allied public safety agencies throughout San Mateo County and the greater bay area. <br />The Redwood City Police Department relies on handheld portable radios and vehicle-mounted mobile <br />radios as its primary means of communication with dispatch, field units, and partner agencies. <br />The Department’s current radio fleet consists of a combination of Kenwood and legacy Motorola <br />equipment that was placed into service between 15 and 30 years ago, far exceeding industry- <br />recommended service life. The Kenwood radios currently in service were discontinued and designated <br />end-of-life approximately five years ago, and are no longer supported by the manufacturer. Replacement <br />parts, repairs, and factory service are no longer available. In addition, several of the Department’s mobile <br />radios are legacy Motorola units that have been discontinued since the 1990s. <br />As a result of the advanced age and poor condition of the radio fleet, the Department has no remaining <br />spare radios, and a growing number of radios are broken, unreliable, or otherwise defective. To maintain <br />minimum operational readiness, RCPD has been forced to temporarily rely on surplus radios loaned by <br />allied agencies that have already completed their own radio replacement projects. These loaned radios <br />are limited in quantity, and do not provide a reliable long-term solution. <br />A San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury report examining public safety radio systems countywide found that <br />mobile radios typically have a service life of seven to ten years, and handheld portable radios five to seven <br />years. The Department’s current fleet has exceeded these benchmarks by a substantial margin. The <br />Redwood City Police Department is now one of the last remaining agencies in San Mateo County operating <br />radios that have not been modernized. <br />ANALYSIS <br />The proposed project will replace the Department’s entire radio fleet, consisting of 150 portable radios <br />and 75 mobile radios, with new Kenwood public safety radios that meet current operational, <br />interoperability, and reliability standards. <br />Key factors driving this request include: <br />End-of-Life Equipment: <br />The existing radios have exceeded their useful service life by a wide margin and are increasingly prone to <br />failure. Manufacturer support has ended, and the lack of replacement parts and repair options presents <br />an ongoing risk to operations. <br />7.F. - Page 2 of 52 <br />211