Collin College's police department would move onto the public safety radio system that Plano and Allen own together under an agreement on the college trustees' consent agenda Friday, Oct. 30.
The department now relies on an analog system built around each campus, with antenna repeaters on campus rooftops, according to a memo to trustees. The memo says that setup has limits: its analog design, the chance of local failures and no way to talk directly with other agencies.
Joining the cities' network would give college officers one digital system across the whole district and let them coordinate with city and county agencies when needed.
The college would pay the City of Plano $35.40 per radio per month plus a $2 network access fee, or $37.40 per radio. The memo says the money is in the police department's 2027 budget. The agreement runs one year and then renews automatically for up to nine more one-year terms, unless a party ends it.
Plano's radio shop keeps control
Under the contract, Plano and Allen are the sole license holders of the joint system, and Plano's Radio Division runs it. The college must buy and maintain its own radios, which have to meet the Project 25 Phase II standard, and have them programmed by Plano's radio shop.
Plano can shut off any college radio it suspects of interfering with the network, decide how many talk groups the college may use and turn away new radios if the system would be strained. The agreement notes the network already carries thousands of radios.
Jail fees rise again
A second consent item renews the college police department's deal to hold arrested people at the Collin County jail when an officer decides a detainee needs a secure facility. The college would pay the county $171.18 per inmate per day, or part of a day, from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2027.
