“We all need to be able to talk to each other,” Aden said of local law enforcement members, firefighters, paramedics and other first responders.
The existing communications systems have been in place since 1995, Aden said. He then noted that the email, text and photo/video-taking capabilities of a modern cellphone far exceeds those of a cellphone from ’95 that couldn’t do much more than dial a number.
Because of coverage gaps in the existing systems, “I have had to lift my radio in the air just to get a call” in some parts of the county, such as in its far northern reaches, Aden said.