Moncton RCMP's move to new radio system unclear on timing

Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe have budgeted about $2 millionto get the Codiac RCMP up and running on the New Brunswick Trunk Mobile Radio system, but there's still no firm date as to when the police force will start using it.

At the Codiac Regional Policing Authority meeting on Wednesday night, board treasurer Paul Van Iderstine said the expense was presented to the three city councils.

"The breakdown of the capital costs was roughly $500,000 for the mobile units, roughly $700,000 for the console in the call centre and roughly $800,000 for the other vehicle repeaters and other infrastructure."

Van Iderstine added there will be annual fees as well.

"There was an additional operating cost on an annual basis for air time and infrastructure of roughly $325,000 a year," said Van Iderstine.

"Those numbers will vary a little bit because they are estimates."

While Moncton Fire Chief Eric Arsenault said earlier this week the fire department will be implementing the new system in conjunction with the Codiac RCMP in the fall, Supt.Paul Beauchesne was more elusive with a time line.

"In terms of when it's actually going to be up and running, it would be hard to say but I know that we're going to make a lot of [headway] in 2016."

Like the Fredericton police force, the Codiac RCMP plans to encrypt its radio signal so people won't be able to pick up police communications on radio scanners.

The McNeil report on the line-of-duty shootingdeaths of three MonctonMounties in 2014 recommended Codiac RCMP move to a system using encrypted radio communication.

Beauchesne said the idea is tokeep officers safe.

"It's not to hide from anything, it's about just being effective in terms of responding to a major incident."