The sheriff's offices of Alameda and Contra Costa counties launched a new communications system last week that will allow officers and dispatchers from parts of both counties to better communicate.

The newly launched "west cell" communications system will link deputy sheriffs patrolling west Contra Costa County with public safety officials and government agencies in parts of Alameda County, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.

"This is the first significant step towards interoperability," Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston said in a statement.

"Eventually deputies on the front lines and sheriff's office dispatchers can talk directly to any other city or county agency within Contra Costa or Alameda counties."

Plans to launch an east Contra Costa County cell is expected to take place this summer, and a central cell is expected to up and running later this year, according to the sheriff's office.

Local agencies have been striving for interoperability in their communications since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 made clear its importance.

The East Bay Regional Communications System received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2008 to purchase communications equipment for a digital communication system to share public safety-related communications between the five Tri-Valley cities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties: Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, San Ramon and Danville. The proposed system was also to allow for communication with emergency service personnel in San Francisco and Oakland.

"The impact of fires, earthquakes, and storms that strike the Bay Area are felt all across the region," U.S. Rep. McNerney (D, 11th) said at the time. "That's why when major events like that take place, emergency personnel from across jurisdictions should be able to communicate and coordinate."

The five Tri-Valley mayors have continued to request funding each year when they travel to Washington, D.C., and met with legislators as a group.

--Bay City News contributed to this report.

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