It wasn’t too long ago that the City of Lathrop entered into an agreement with the City Ripon on handling dispatch services.

With Lathrop focusing on developing its own police force, Ripon, which already provides dispatch services for the City of Escalon, is looking to bring a fourth dispatch station necessary for the extra workload.

Upgrades may soon be on the way.

A survey of the radio communication system was completed by an outside vendor back in May, according to police Chief Ed Ormonde in his report for Tuesday’s Ripon City Council meeting.

Included was an inventory of department equipment, evaluation of coverage, reliability, dependability, and the ability to meet new state mandates for radio transmission encryption.

“It was determined that much of the hardware of the current radio system was nearing the end of life, which translated to the inability to replace the current components that were installed in 2006 with like components,” Ormonde noted.

He added that those “like components” are no longer available and difficult to acquire.

After receiving consultation from several vendors coupled with some industry experts, the department is opting for upgrades to the current radio system with as a “better long-term solution” with a circuit-based system.

Police will be seeking approval from elected leaders, at their 6 p.m. open session in the Council Chambers, 259 N. Wilma Ave., to go ahead with the purchase of the new dispatch console radios – a replacement of the current outdated system – from La Rue Communications while bringing the fourth dispatch station into service.

Cost is about $294,000 to be paid out from the General Department Capital Fund.