Drew Wilson
Language included in the proposed budget bills in the House and Senate show lawmakers are on board with the contract awarded to Motorola to take over the Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System.
Motorola was awarded the bid by DMS eons ago, but the implementation hit several speedbumps thanks to protests of the prior SLERS contract holder, Harris Corp.
This protest was dismissed by an administrative law judge in October.
With language included in both chamber’s proviso authorizing the DMS to sign the contract with Motorola for the statewide public safety communications system, Motorola continues to be the inevitable winner of the bid.
Under the General Government portion of the budget bill, lawmakers included several provisions approving the SLERS upgrade contract.
“The Department of Management Services, having previously released a competitive procurement and an award of such has been made, the department is authorized to execute a contract for the replacement of the Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System utilizing Project 25 Phase II Technology,” says the proviso for line item 2942.
Versions of this language, included in both budget bills, signals support from both the House and the Senate and is a continued step toward the ultimate transition of services.
Harris Corp., a Florida-based company, held the SLERS contract for years before DMS decided to part ways due to a number of problems with communications gear.
The Harris Corp.-SLERS contract reportedly costs the state upward of $18 million a year, since September 2000. The deal with Motorola is expected to provide more connectivity, including expansions to include other personnel such as those working in child welfare, agriculture, public works, ports and school districts.
When implemented, it will represent a massive improvement over the current system, which is overloaded to the point that radio users have to be kicked off the network in order for new ones to be added.
In fact, DMS and Motorola say the expanded connectivity will slash user fees to local governments by 15 percent. Over the lifetime of the contract, Florida taxpayers are expected to save $300 million.
SLERS is “a single, unified digital radio network that meets the radio voice communications needs of state law enforcement officers and other participating agencies throughout the state,” according to the Department of Management Services.
