CROTHERSVILLE

There have been times when dispatch has had trouble reaching a Crothersville Police Department officer if they are near the interstate.

The police radios in their cars don’t work well when it’s raining, either.

Police Chief Matt Browning recently told the Crothersville Town Council it’s time for new radios so these are no longer issues.

“They are way outdated,” Browning said of the EF Johnson radios the department currently uses.

He said the only other local entity he knows with the same kind is the Crothersville-Vernon Township Volunteer Fire Department.

“Radio communications with dispatch and other officers right now is getting worse,” Browning said. “Our radios are very quiet when we talk to dispatch, and they tell us frequently that our traffic was too low, and we have to repeat everything.”

While attending a Jackson County 911 board meeting, Browning was asked if his department needed anything.

He told the board about the need for police radios. The board agreed to pay half of the cost, and the other half would come out of the police department’s budget.

Browning found six Kenwood radios for $12,891.60 and four Motorola radios for $16,415.

During a meeting earlier this month, the town council agreed to go with the six Kenwoods from Electronic Communication Systems and pay half of the cost if the 911 board agreed to cover the other half.

During a 911 board meeting Dec. 10, Browning’s request was approved.

Each entity will pay $6,445.80. Browning said the police department will be billed in January.

He already has ordered the six radios, and they should arrive in three to four weeks. Then it will be another week or two to get the licenses for them.

“These Kenwood radios are supposed to be louder when we talk into the mic, so hopefully, that will fix the quiet issue,” Browning said.

The officers also have handheld radios, but Browning said they work fine.