Transforming Public Safety Communications for Calexico, California

AT&T Blog Team
March 18, 2022
Broadband Access and Affordability, Public Safety


Transforming Public Safety Communications for Calexico, California

The Calexico, CA Police Department (PD) is responsible for responding to law enforcement service requests and protecting life and property for a town of more than 40,000 residents.

Located just north of Mexicali, the City of Calexico, CA, is a major international crossroads at the U.S.-Mexico border. An estimated 4 million vehicles and 4.8 million pedestrians move north across the border at the Calexico West Port of Entry each year.

In a busy area with various demands for public safety response, having access to modern communications devices is critical to helping to keep members of the community safe.

When Calexico PD realized that their traditional radios were outdated and costly, they reached out to FirstNet, Built with AT&T for possible solutions. Calexico saw that FirstNet’s push-to-talk devices equipped with FirstNet proved to be more beneficial and affordable than traditional radios.

As the only nationwide, high-speed broadband communications platform purpose-built for America’s first responders, FirstNet is designed to improve interoperable communications across public safety entities nationwide, allowing first responders to communicate with one another easily and quickly during everyday situations, big events and emergencies.

Under the leadership of Police Chief Gonzalo Gerardo, the department was able to acquire the FirstNet-connected phones for the department’s traffic control officers.

Now equipped with FirstNet and a fleet of new push-to-talk radios, the Calexico PD traffic control division, and the entire department, can more easily and efficiently monitor the flow of people and goods into and out of the state and the nation.

Calexico PD’s adoption of FirstNet is a result of AT&T’s larger investment in Imperial County. Between 2018-2020, AT&T invested nearly $25 million in communications infrastructure and networks in the county to bring improved connectivity to the area.

Calexico PD is the first department in Imperial County to adopt FirstNet, and we look forward to expanding our footprint in Imperial County, connecting those who keep us safe when it matters most. AT&T is committed to doing our part to support the first responders who work hard to keep our communities safe, and we are honored to provide critical connectivity to the Calexico Police Department through FirstNet.

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