Public-safety capital plan centers on radio/CAD refresh, vehicles and response gear in a $130M portfolio

Officials representing Arlingtons public-safety agencies told the County Board that their proposed capital portfolio prioritizes communications, deployable response equipment and vehicle replacement as core needs.

Portfolio and priorities: Jeff Bergen, public-safety financial officer, said the joint public-safety CIP covers radio-system modernization, the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) upgrade, mobile-data hardware and replacement of apparatus and specialized response equipment. The public-safety group proposed roughly $130 million in projects over the 10-year plan and emphasized that many assets have short useful lives (commonly five to seven years), creating recurring replacement pressures.

CAD and radios: Staff highlighted the recently deployed cloud-hosted CAD system (described as among the earliest regional cloud CAD rollouts) and said a failover test is planned to confirm resilience. The radio-system upgrade was identified as a major near-term project; staff said aging regional radio infrastructure and the need for interoperable regional systems are a priority.

Vehicles and response equipment: Fire apparatus and specialized vehicles are a significant portion of the plan, with apparatus replacement intended to maintain a stable and supportable fleet on multi-year cycles. Public safety also listed response equipment (ballistic and protective gear, robots, breathing cylinders) that require periodic replacement. Staff noted some federal grant sources for response gear have declined in recent years, shifting more cost burden to the county.

Board questions and next steps: Board members asked whether the proposed funding addresses the highest-priority needs; agency representatives said the presented list focuses on the highest-priority items that are manageable in the near term. Fire leadership discussed west-end Columbia Pike coverage gaps and said they will test mobile and partnership alternatives (mobile integrated health, alternative transport) before committing to a new fire station, then reassess for the next CIP.

What follows: Public-safety staff will provide additional project-level details and continue regional coordination for shared assets such as the firing range and radio infrastructure.