BLOOMINGTON -- Bloomington police are wrapping up their testing of Starcom 21 but whether they switch to the digital radio system is far from decided.

The city started a three-month test of the system in May and has about three more weeks of testing left.

City officials will meet with representatives of Starcom, Motorola and Illinois State Police in September to continue discussions about the system.

City Manager David Hales said how the city moves forward will depend on the system's cost, the city's budget and how long the city can reasonably maintain its current 10-year-old analog radio system.

Radios for each of the city's 123 officers will be needed, in addition to supporting equipment for police vehicles and at the dispatch center.

The Starcom system allows users statewide to communicate with each other. In addition to the state police, locally, McLean County and Normal also use Starcom 21. Last year, the two police agencies said they had difficulty communicating with Bloomington police during a call to State Farm Insurance Cos. corporate headquarters.

Bloomington Police Chief Randy McKinley said the department has tried to be as thorough as possible in its testing.

"We already have a system that works for us," McKinley said. "So if we make the switch we wanted to be sure that system that will work for us, too."

Motorola, the radio manufacturer, gave the city eight portable radios for testing. The department's street crimes unit and traffic unit have been the primary users of those radios, said Darren Wolf, Bloomington police communication center system administrator.

"A vast majority of the officers have told me they are impressed and pleased with it (Starcom)," McKinley said.

McKinley said at some point the current system will become expensive to maintain and will need to be replaced. Also, he said more and more departments are switching to digital systems.

"We will also look at the cost and what grants may be available for this," he said.

In addition to the cost to purchase the equipment, estimated at $3,000 to $5,000 per radio, every portable radio carries a monthly $30 service charge, similar to a cell phone, McKinley said. The city is not charged a monthly per-radio fee on the analog system.

Hales said it may be December before the issue returns to the City Council for review.