Cumbria Police

In 2021, Cumbria Police took a proactive step towards future-proofing their communications by refreshing their fleet of frontline TETRA radios. The force deployed over 1,400 new radios, including Sepura SC21 hand-portable radios for Police Officer roles and SCG22 mobile radios for vehicles. This upgrade ensures that officers are equipped with the latest in TETRA radio technology, significantly enhancing communication reliability in challenging environments, especially across remote areas with limited network coverage.

As the demands on policing evolve, so too must the technology that supports it. For Cumbria Police, ensuring operational efficiency and officer safety in an increasingly complex environment was a top priority. The force required a communication solution that not only provided robust and reliable connections but also flawlessly integrated into existing systems and workflows. The technology also needed to reach remote and rural areas where network coverage was limited, posing an additional challenge to maintaining effective communication.

Field trials were organised by Cumbria Police to assess the most suitable technology for their radio fleet refresh. Recognising the need to update their equipment, the force sought feedback from officers to ensure the chosen solution would meet operational requirements. The results from these trials highlighted the advantages of the Sepura SC21 TETRA radio over the previous airwave estate, with its powerful TETRA engine and improved receive sensitivity standing out as a critical advantage for maintaining airwave coverage and communication across the county’s rural locations, where less powerful handsets frequently lost coverage.

In addition to the SC21, Cumbria Police deployed Sepura’s SCG22 mobile radios, which acted as a Gateway to extend Airwave coverage to areas that would otherwise be unreachable. The SCG22’s versatile deployment options, including car, van, motorcycle, and desk mounts, provided flexibility for Cumbria Police force’s vehicles. Its common interface with the SC21 minimised training time for officers, ensuring a smooth transition to the new equipment.

By adopting Sepura’s TETRA radios, Cumbria Police significantly improved communication reliability and clarity across all areas, including both noisy and remote environments. The radios’ intuitive design streamlined the adoption process, reducing the need for extensive training and allowing officers to quickly familiarise themselves with the new technology.

The radios’ advanced connectivity features also future-proofed the force’s operations, supporting custom applications for secure data access, which enhanced operational capabilities.

The transition to the new Sepura devices took place during the Covid pandemic, presenting unique challenges. Despite these, Sepura worked closely with Cumbria Police to ensure a smooth and safe rollout. As part of this, Sepura provided a provisioning service where radios were pre-programmed and delivered directly to force headquarters, ready for deployment. The radios were also customised with a bespoke user interface to provide officers with a familiar experience, minimising training time and ensuring operational efficiency from day one.

This efficient deployment significantly strengthened the Cumbria Police force’s ability to respond swiftly to incidents, enhancing both officer and public safety throughout the county.