Delaware County is getting significant upgrades to its aging 911 system, thanks to bi-partisan work between state and county officials.

A press conference took place Friday announcing that the county had received $4.6 million in RCAP funding from the state to revamp its 30-year emergency communications system with a 911 Communications System Rehabilitation and Upgrade project.

That money is in addition to $1.5 million the county received from the state last year.

“This was an immense undertaking and a great deal of work went into securing this funding,” said Delaware County Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaeffer.

Call Center statistics

In 2020, Delaware County’s 911 Center received almost 600,000 calls for car accidents, fires, injuries, violence, children in danger, and other emergencies.

The 911 Center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What the upgrades will do

The project will redevelop existing sites and add additional sites so there’s no loss of communications between First Responders, the 911 Call Center in Middletown, residents in need, and the surrounding counties, explained Schaeffer.

 Work includes tower upgrades, shelter structures, grounding, electric and HVAC, and new 911Center equipment.  

A modernized 911 system will need infrastructure improvements—buildings, towers, and communications, said Delaware County Director of Emergency Services Tim Boyce.

 “Delaware County has been on a two-year journey to improve our radio system,” Boyce said.

A Broken system

Right now, Delaware County’s 911 system is vulnerable, with serious infrastructure, technology, and security deficiencies. It is long overdue for modernization, Schaeffer said.

State Sen. Tim Kearney (D-29), who helped secure the state funding, said he recalled while mayor of Swarthmore that unauthorized people could access the 911 radio communications.

“We all heard the radio chatter from the city of Chester, for example, where people were actually able to get on to the police frequencies,” he said.

State Rep. Leanne Krueger (D-161) remembered a community event in Brookhaven when the fire chief took her aside and told her the countywide radio had gone down that morning.

“They were trying to go out on fire calls and they couldn’t actually communicate with each other because Delaware County’s radio system was broken,” she said.

The 911 upgrade funding request made to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf described Delaware County’s need as “a crucial life safety matter.”

“At times there have been situations where emergency personnel were unable to reach the county 911 Center. In addition, people could hack the current radio system and interfere with operations,” the request read.

The residents and First Responders

The project is critical to the safety of thousands of Delaware County First Responders and the communities they serve, Shaeffer said.

“Today is a tremendous day for everyone in public safety in Delaware County,” Boyce said.

He pointed out the upgrades will benefit the volunteer fire departments, emergency medical services, which are dealing now with the COVID crisis; police, and the workers who man the Emergency Center.

“The police officers, the lifeblood of public safety in Delaware County, have been crying out for improvements in the system and county council is answering that call,” Boyce said.

The emergency services director also said the upgrades would bring jobs to the county.

The bi-partisan effort

Schaeffer said the success in procuring the grant demonstrated the effort of a two-party delegation that united to fight for funding that was so badly needed.

Boyce called it “a tremendous achievement by everyone in government, in Delaware County,” adding, “the results are going to serve the taxpayers and the citizens well.”

“Getting this project funded is a testament to effective bi-partisan collaboration and teamwork,” Kearney said.  “Our constituents deserve leaders who will work together, regardless of party affiliation to assure that everyone’s quality of life improves.”

Rep. Kreuger said grant requests in Harrisburg are not usually 100 percent awarded but this one was. “And it is only because we’ve come together at every level of government here in Delaware County to work together to fight to protect our residents and our First Responders,” she said.   

“Follow this story,” advised Shaeffer. “We are modernizing this county from the bottom up and it will make everyone safer,” she said.

Find out more about Delaware County government.

Catch the entire press conference here.

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