The Police and Fire Equipment dedicated temporary one-half cent sales tax was approved by voters on March 14, 2000.
For 32 months, citizens paid an extra one-half cent on every dollar worth of items purchased in Oklahoma City, with the commitment that the money would be spent on the following items:
Emergency warning sirens
A
network of 181 emergency warning sirens went online in April, 2002. It
cost $4.5 million - a half-million less than projected.
The sirens replace the cold war-era sirens that covered only the most densely populated parts of the City.
Police vehicles and equipment
More
than 300 cars, trucks and other vehicles will be added to the fleet. About
half have already been purchased.
Police helicopters
Two
police helicopters were purchased with temporary dedicated sales tax
revenue. While one flies, the other undergoes regular maintenance
at the Police Department's mid-town hangar.
Fire vehicles and apparatus
The
City is under budget on its purchase of 70
pieces of firefighting equipment, which includes brush pumpers, sedans,
and a new mobile command post.
Citywide trunked radio system
For
years, there has been no way for a police supervisor and a fire chief
to communicate with each other by radio, even if they were at the same
incident (a large fire, for example, that needed streets blocked).
Trunked radio will give City agencies the ability to talk directly with each other via radio for the first time, and will improve the speed and reliability of communication.
It will take about 28 months to install the system.
A contractor was chosen in January, 2002.
Emergency communications center
The
new $4.6 million communications center has been built downtown to be the answering and dispatch location
for Oklahoma City police and fire 911 calls.
This is the newest addition to the police and fire projects. It will replace the communications center now housed in a converted bomb shelter near the Oklahoma City Zoo.
Information systems
Police, Fire, EMSA, and the City's IT department are working with a consultant to lay the groundwork for a new information processing system.