State radio team restores emergency communications backing San Juan County dispatch

When radio links fail, the difference between a routine call and a dangerous delay can come down to who is standing ready to restore contact. In San Juan County, that safety net runs through the New Mexico Department of Information Technology, which maintains the state’s public safety radio network and backs up the county’s 911 dispatch operations for police, fire and EMS in Farmington, Aztec and Bloomfield.

DoIT says its Public Safety Radio Communication network is built to provide interoperable radio traffic for state and participating local, tribal and federal agencies. Its Santa Fe Control Dispatch Center was created to provide statewide radio dispatch services to public law enforcement and other state agencies, while the Radio Maintenance group provides 24 by 7 emergency repair service for the state’s digital microwave radio network, dispatch centers and two-way public safety radio systems.

That statewide backbone matters in San Juan County because the San Juan County Communications Authority is the primary Public Safety Answering Point for the county and serves as the 9-1-1 call center for all of San Juan County except portions of the Navajo Nation Reservation. When deputies, firefighters or medics need to talk across jurisdictions, the county’s dispatch center and the state system have to work together fast, especially when weather, terrain or equipment failures interfere with normal communications.

The system’s reach has grown sharply. DoIT said in July 2025 that 78 agencies were using the Digital Trunked Radio System, and in April 2026 it said the system spanned more than 100 tower sites, delivered nearly 80% statewide coverage and connected 23,274 subscribers across more than 90 federal, tribal, state and local agencies. The state has fully paid subscriber fees since 2024 and plans to keep doing so through June 30, 2027, using legislative funding that turned radio access into a budget priority as well as a public-safety one.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham moved in 2023 to have the state pay monthly radio fees for first responders after a reimbursement bill failed in the Legislature. In Santa Fe, where police and fire switched to the state system at 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 9, 2023, officials said the new network would deliver clearer and more reliable communications, stronger in-the-field safety and a backup if the local system failed. Santa Fe Police Chief Paul Joye said radios are “the lifeline for our first responders,” and Fire Chief Brian Moya said the old system had hindered response and the new one would let crews respond with more confidence.

DoIT has also tied the upgrades to New Mexico’s terrain, saying older communication gaps have long plagued responders in rugged areas where lost hikers, stranded motorists, wildfires and other fast-moving incidents can turn critical in minutes. Manny Barreras, the department’s cabinet secretary, said, “Effective and hardened radio systems help keep first responders safe and connected,” and called public safety radio “the pulse of every emergency response.”