Okaloosa County (OCSO) law enforcement officers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a cell tower that should alleviate their digital connectivity woes. According to WKRG-TV, plans are underway to install a 200-foot cell tower in Destin, FL. The tower will share a site with the county’s trash collection facilities, with both located behind the Destin Water Users office complex.
“One of the biggest issues we have right now in the city is communications,” noted OCSO Captain Jason Fulgham. “There are places in the city where my deputies are unable to reach our dispatch and you can imagine what an issue that causes when we have a citizen that is having a heart attack that we’ve come upon and we can’t hit our repeating tower in order to get fire and EMS to come help us save that person,” he continued. “Or, we have a situation where we are in danger or someone is trying to cause harm to one of my deputies and they can’t reach out to their fellow deputies to come assist them.”
“There are numerous places in the city where we have had this problem and we’ve had that problem for several years,” stated Cpt. Fulgham. “Fortunately we have a solution now and that’s the radio tower.” The tower is expected to be operational in 2024.
The new cell tower is part of a $23 million dollar project designed to address connectivity issues in Okaloosa County, according to WKRG-TV. When completed, there will be a series of 12 new cell towers and 200 new radios to provide law enforcement personnel with reliable digital service.
“That should solve that issue and my guys are very much looking forward to that being put in place,” said Cpt. Fulgham.
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