About Us

The County of Los Angeles and its 88 cities need DCS members to provide critical disaster communication by amateur radio and related means when other modes fail. Learn more about how to be a Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service member and use your radio skills for your community.

Making a Difference

For over 100 years amateur radio operators have provided public service during emergency situations when other communication modes fail. The Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service has continued this tradition since 1951, evolving with changes in amateur radio; technology; and needs of Los Angeles County’s governmental units. Consider joining L.A. County DCS to make a difference. When other modes of communication are out, we can reliably take critical information to higher places.

We offer many voluntary training opportunities and experiences to make our members the best prepared emergency communicators they can be.

What We Do

“Job one” for DCS is facilitating communications between the County and other agencies when all else fails. Twenty Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Stations and three other LASD sites have complete amateur radio rooms with modern multi-band equipment. If other modes fail DCS operators at Sheriff’s Stations can relay emergency communications to or from local cities or agencies and their Sheriff’s Station, the Los Angeles County Emergency Operations Center or another Sheriff’s Station.

Some DCS members help maintain or are trained to operate Sheriff’s Department communications assets such as field-deployable military-grade HF radios and antennas, communication trucks, and satellite ground stations.

Many DCS members provide public service communication within their Sheriff’s Station area for local events or with local agencies. DCS units near the San Gabriel and Santa Monica Mountains also provide auxiliary communication for Sheriff’s Mountain Search & Rescue Teams.

Both local and Countywide DCS operations provide participating members with experiences that enhance radio skills and personal readiness.

Making a Difference

For over 100 years, amateur radio operators have provided public service during emergency situations when other communication modes fail. The Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service has continued this tradition since 1951, evolving with changes in amateur radio, technology, and the needs of Los Angeles County’s governmental units.

Consider joining L.A. County DCS to make a difference. When other modes of communication are out, we can reliably take critical information to higher places. We offer many voluntary training opportunities and experiences to make our members the best prepared emergency communicators they can be.

Who We Are

The nearly 300 members of DCS today serve Los Angeles County and its governmental units with back-up emergency communication. DCS is a volunteer organization administered by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for the County Board of Supervisors, authorized under county ordinance in 1951. DCS members are classified as Sheriff’s Department Volunteers and undergo a criminal background check and driving history check before becoming members.

Because DCS members also have California Disaster Service Worker insurance when activated. New members must take FEMA online courses ICS-100 and ICS-700 within one year of joining.

DCS members come from all walks of life. Consider joining the team and take your disaster amateur radio service capabilities to a higher level.

Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service
1277 N. Eastern Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90063 at the LASD Sheriff’s Communications Center (SCC)
Phone: 323-881-8259, email: mselliot@lasd.org

L.A. County Disaster Communication units are at these locations:

Sheriff’s Stations

– Avalon (Catalina Is.)
– Carson
– Century (Lynwood)
– City of Industry
– Crescenta Valley
– East Los Angeles
– Lakewood
– Lancaster
– Lomita
– Lost Hills (Malibu)
– Marina Del Rey
– Norwalk
– Palmdale
– Pico Rivera
– San Dimas
– Santa Clarita
– South Los Angeles
– Temple City
– Walnut
– West Hollywood

Other sites
– LASD Aero Bureau
– Sheriff’s Communication Center
– L.A. Co. Emergency Operations Center
– Various Custody Facilities

DCS Communication Assets

Besides radio rooms inside most Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Stations, DCS owns and operates a private six-hilltop simulcast 2-meter repeater system providing superior linked coverage throughout Los Angeles County—even with HT radios. This simulcast system is exclusively for DCS member use when DCS nets and official activities are not in progress. DCS also owns open 2-meter and 1.25-meter amateur repeaters atop 5,963-foot Mt. Disappointment above Pasadena. A separate UHF repeater is reserved for future use. Each DCS radio room inside the Sheriff’s Stations is programmed with amateur radio simplex frequencies for contacting the DCS unit at any other LASD station.

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