911 system soon to be on narrowband Sheriff also talks about inmate labor program BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD - The Monmouth County Sheriff paid a visit to town last week. Kim Guadagno, who was elected last year as the county's first female sheriff, told the Township Committee at its May 1 meeting that her office cares about what happens in Upper Freehold and discussed an upgrade to the 911 emergency system. Guadagno said the county would spend $21 million in the next few years to upgrade the 911 system from broadband to narrowband, which is a federal mandate. The change is similar to what's happening with television sets, she said. New narrowband radios will cost between $2,000 and $3,500 each. The county will purchase 2,500 radios, she said. The county will also purchase radio frequencies so the radios can stay operable throughout the county, she said. Towns are being asked to change their emergency radios from analog to digital, she said. "We will ask you to purchase or upgrade your radios if you have not done so yet," she said. A bond the committee passed that night appropriated $19,000 for the acquisition of communications equipment, including the radios. Guadagno, who formerly served on the Monmouth Beach Borough Council, mentioned that her town's chief of police knew of the pending change in the 911 system, but its first aid and fire department squads did not. The sheriff had been under the impression that Upper Freehold uses a base station in Allentown for 911 emergencies. When the committee said that is not the case, Guadagno said the county could build a station in the township at a small cost. She said she would contact Township Administrator Barbara Bascom to work out the details. Bascom said 911 calls made in the township go directly to the county sheriff 's office. Guadagno also spoke about the other aspects of her department and said it runs the jails and the youth detention center and serves warrants. She also said that the county has an inmate labor program. Guadagno said the inmates in the program are not hardcore criminals and are screened and supervised. "The public doesn't like [to see] orange jumpsuits, but they are all completely screened," she said. "Most go home to their own homes at night. They are doing community service." In return for inmate labor, a municipality must feed the inmates lunch, she said. They are available for painting municipal buildings and similar tasks, as well as working on projects that departments of public works do not want to do, she said.