MARCH 2024 19GOVERNMENT CIO OUTLOOKINSIGHTSCXOA LOCAL GOVERNMENT'S APPROACH TO PUBLIC SAFETY INTEROPERABLE COMMUNICATIONSDeWayne Rose, Director of Emergency Management, The City of West MemphisByI mproving and enhancing emergency and interoperable communications is a national responsibility shared by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners (emergency communications state, local, tribal, and territorial coordination). The City of West Memphis has historically operated on a lean budget, with little extra revenue to expand infrastructure. In 2021, the City of West Memphis was notified that it would receive $6,639,347.00 from the American Rescue Plan. The City of West Memphis Office of Emergency Management immediately began communicating with the Mayor's office to request funding be dedicated to a public safety interoperable communications project. The OEM director scheduled several meetings with the Mayor and Finance Director for the city. During these meetings, a broad picture was painted to illustrate the dire situation of public safety communications in West Memphis. The West Memphis Police are operating on a commercial grade (non-P25 compliant) radio system that is 15+ years old. The system is failing, and parts are not available to repair the system. The West Memphis Fire is operating on a digital/analog combination system. The other City of West Memphis DeWayne Rose
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