iXP Creates Public Safety Communications Master Plan for Buckeye, Arizona

Sector: Local Government

Focus: Strategic Planning Consulting/Program Management

Started: 2006

Situation

The Town of Buckeye is a small community poised for phenomenal growth. With over 600 square miles in their city planning area, this once-rural farming area west of Phoenix will explode from its current 35,000 population to more than 600,000 in the next 20 years. To manage this growth, Buckeye officials realized that they needed to establish well-founded long-range plans and strategies for providing reliable municipal services, including the public safety services provided by their police and fire departments.

The Town recognized that a well-planned public safety communications infrastructure was critical to their current and future ability to deliver service to their community. This infrastructure needed to be affordable in the early years of the town's growth, but also scalable to allow for the explosive growth in the future. Buckeye turned to iXP to develop a public safety communications master plan to guide their future funding, design, implementation and operations processes.

Solution

iXP worked with the Police and Fire Departments to establish a clear vision for the current and future service delivery demands Buckeye faces and for the communications functionality required to meet these demands. This vision was constructed to provide a clear understanding of the governance, operational, technology, and facility impacts that could be anticipated as the town moved through the significant growth they were facing.

iXP conducted a thorough review of the current communications environment in use by the Police and Fire departments, including the operations of the Police Department's dispatch center. We also researched the public safety communications systems in use by neighboring agencies, and identified critical interoperability needs. Data was compiled on emerging technologies and regulatory constraints that could influence future communications environments used by the Town.

Results

The extensive review and research was synthesized against the growth projections and operational needs of the Police and Fire departments to provide a communications master plan that can guide the implementation and staffing of a new communications center and the development of the voice/data radio infrastructures needed to meet the Town's requirements in the years ahead.

This plan provided a roadmap for the governance, operational, technology, facility, and financial activities that need to be completed as Buckeye transitions from its rural farming past to its suburban city future. iXP also assisted in the development of radio spectrum licensing documentation and may soon support of the overall implementation of the master plan's vision.

Value Delivered. Problem Solved