Oxnard-- The City Council approved a $777,385 contract with Motorola to purchase 73 radios Tuesday, June 21.
THE agreement authorizes Mayor John Zaragoza to sign a purchase order with Motorola Solutions for 33 APX 8500 all-band mobile radios costing $333,734 and 40 APX 8000 all-band portable radios with spare batteries and remote speaker microphones that cost $443,651.
Mobile radios are mounted in Fire Department vehicles, and Fire Department staff carries portable radios.
Fire Chief Alex Hamilton told the Community Services, Public Safety, Housing & Development Committee on May 24 that the Oxnard Fire Department is dispatched by the Ventura County Fire Protection District Fire Communications Center (FCC), which is transitioning to all-band radios in the next 2-4 years.
“In preparation for that transition, the Oxnard Fire Department needs to transition all mobile and portable radios over to all-band, as opposed to single-band radios,” he said.
He noted that the council allocated money through the ARPA (American Rescue Plan) program for the radios. The Fire Department also applied for and received funding through the Assistance of Firefighter Grant Program.
“Motorola is the radio that Ventura County Fire Department uses and FCC use, so they provide us with interoperability,” he said.…
