Engineering and Communications

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The State Patrol’s Bureau of Network Engineering and Data Infrastructure (BNEDI) provides the engineering, installation, operation, and technical maintenance for the statewide public safety radio communications network. This includes work on all radio tower sites and voice transmitting equipment, along with technologies in State Patrol cruisers.


Communications towers play a vital role in public safety. An engineer and other technical staff help plan, design, procure, and manage tower site improvement projects across the tower network to repair or replace aging infrastructure. The unit also works with federal, state, and local agencies to ensure the most efficient and cost-effective use of limited radio frequency resources.

BNEDI's fleet installation technicians install specialized equipment in public safety vehicles for the Wisconsin State Patrol. Technicians research, design, test, install and maintain technologies used in fleet vehicles such as two-way radios, repeaters, computer equipment, video cameras, speed detection, and emergency lights and sirens.

The team upgrades 80-100 law enforcement vehicles each year including cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles, and motorcycles.

Statewide law enforcement communication requires reliable and secure transport and back-up systems. Network information systems specialists oversee multiple complex IP data networks and their corresponding statewide infrastructure, including microwave radio and proprietary fiber optics. Some of the critical services that use this complex information network include the Wisconsin Interoperable System for Communications (WISCOM) and a statewide private Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system.

Field service technicians work throughout Wisconsin to operate and maintain the statewide network consisting of microwave radio and data transport over fiber. They also manage two-way radio systems, including State Patrol legacy systems, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forestry and WISCOM. WISCOM supports 48,765 total users, including 846 interoperable user agencies and 376 daily use agencies.

The technicians also maintain and repair the State Patrol’s fleet radio equipment, siren, and emergency lighting systems along with mobile video systems. The unit assists other state agencies as needed, including maintenance of the DNR two-way radio system and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) system.

The team is responsible for service at 141 tower sites, five dispatch centers and 13 Safety and Weight Enforcement Facilities throughout Wisconsin.