North Olmsted Police and Fire Expands to Offer Centralized Services to Surrounding Communities

The City of North Olmsted recently implemented a broad-based initiative to centralize dispatch and prisoner-housing services to include several surrounding communities in the West Shore area, requiring an expansion of its Police and Fire Department communications capabilities. With this impressive new initiative, the department needed to upgrade and modernize its facilities to accommodate 12 primary dispatch stations—quadrupling its original capacity of three stations.

This large-scale, design-build expansion called for substantial infrastructure updates, including a newly centralized uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system to ensure continuous power for mission-critical operations.

The design-build project involved the installation of a centralized UPS platform, designed to provide redundant power to the entire facility. This upgrade ensured that critical systems, including dispatch consoles, communications and jail facilities, could function smoothly without interruption during power outages or other emergencies. Key features of the UPS system include:

Scalable Power Capacity – The system was built around two transformers and a generator feeder, supporting an expandable UPS platform to accommodate future growth.

Comprehensive Distribution – The system includes two distribution boards and approximately 50 new receptacles to provide reliable power to all essential devices.

Redundant Power – Harrington Electric developed specifications for a redundant power supply, going beyond the building’s original generator-backed system. This approach ensures seamless failover for all critical systems.

To house the UPS system, the Harrington team utilized space created during a prior expansion of the communications room. This strategic planning allowed for centralized power management, simplifying maintenance and improving reliability.

One of the most significant challenges within this project was completing the new installation without disrupting the department’s daily police and fire operations. The North Olmsted Police Station needed to maintain full functionality throughout the project, including its dispatch, communications and jail services.

The Harrington Electric team – led by vice president of client services, Brian Robinette – designed a multi-phased migration plan that would minimize downtime and ensure a smooth transition.

Four Harrington electricians were on-site at the height of the project, working diligently to meet tight deadlines, and ensuring that every aspect of the installation was performed correctly, from the placement of receptacles to the consolidation of equipment racks into the centralized UPS system.

In the coming weeks, the team will conduct a series of dry runs, isolating one dispatch area at a time, to perform the switchover from generator power to the UPS receptacles. This step-by-step process ensures minimal impact to ongoing operations while maintaining safety and efficiency.

By the end of 2024, all systems will be fully operational under the new UPS platform, positioning the department for success as it takes on its expanded role in regional dispatch services.

Harrington Electric’s role in the project also involved retrofitting all interior lights in the facility, switching to high-efficient LED lighting which helped to reduce energy consumption and save the city a considerable amount of money.

In addition to the design-build UPS installation, Harrington Electric’s SmartLite division completed a broad lighting retrofit project to modernize the facility’s lighting systems. The retrofit involved replacing outdated fixtures with energy-efficient LED lighting, which offers several benefits:

Cost Savings – Reduced energy consumption which results in significant cost savings for the city over time.

Improved Lighting Quality – Enhanced visibility to create a safer and more comfortable environment for staff and visitors.

Environmental Impact – Energy-efficient lighting to reduce the facility’s carbon footprint, aligning with the city’s sustainability goals.

The upgrades extend beyond electrical systems to support the expanded dispatch and jail operations. The dispatch station area now includes 12 fully equipped stations, each with multiple monitors for call handling and resource coordination. Further, the station’s jail area includes 12 cells for male and female detainees, supported by the upgraded power systems to ensure continuous operation of security and monitoring equipment.

These enhancements will allow the North Olmsted Police Department to handle increased call volumes and provide exceptional service to the city and neighboring communities.

The project began in September 2024 and is now 90% complete. With the final stages of scheduling and testing for the UPS system set to begin in the coming weeks, the department remains on track to have all systems operational by January 1, 2025, meeting the city’s immediate needs while providing more than adequate flexibility for growth.