GOSHEN — A $117,000 grant for new radios was only half the amount Goshen police needed, leaving their lines of communication short until city council stepped in.
The Goshen Board of Works approved Monday an agreement for the Justice Assistant Grant that the police department received from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. Goshen police heard in December that they received the grant but only learned recently how much funding they got, according to Chief Jose Miller.
He noted that they received only about half of what they asked for to purchase new portable radios that can be used with a 800MHz communication system, which will be the standard in Elkhart County by 2021. Goshen is one of the few departments that still use old VHF radios, and he said it’s caused some communication issues with other agencies.
Radio conversations often have to be relayed through the county dispatch center, even when a Goshen police cruiser is right next to an officer from another department, Miller told Goshen City Council in August. He cited a recent car chase when the officer kept calling for backup but didn’t get a response, until an Indiana State Police patrolman saw him fly past with his lights and sirens going.
The JAG grant is enough to buy 23 tri-band radios to add to the 22 that the department already has. That left them 20 units short of what they needed to equip the full-time officers.
“That’s with no spares, just the basics of what we need to get the job done,” Miller said.
The city council had agreed to cover the cost of the remaining units at their Aug. 21 meeting, in order to take advantage of a discount available at the time on the $6,000-apiece radios. Mayor Jeremy Stutsman asked for the $110,000 appropriation after remarking that he saw firsthand the communication issues caused by the old radios, during the active shooter training police held at Goshen Middle School Aug. 3.
-From news article in The Elkhart Truth (www.elkharttruth.com)]
The Goshen Board of Works approved Monday an agreement for the Justice Assistant Grant that the police department received from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. Goshen police heard in December that they received the grant but only learned recently how much funding they got, according to Chief Jose Miller.
He noted that they received only about half of what they asked for to purchase new portable radios that can be used with a 800MHz communication system, which will be the standard in Elkhart County by 2021. Goshen is one of the few departments that still use old VHF radios, and he said it’s caused some communication issues with other agencies.
Radio conversations often have to be relayed through the county dispatch center, even when a Goshen police cruiser is right next to an officer from another department, Miller told Goshen City Council in August. He cited a recent car chase when the officer kept calling for backup but didn’t get a response, until an Indiana State Police patrolman saw him fly past with his lights and sirens going.
The JAG grant is enough to buy 23 tri-band radios to add to the 22 that the department already has. That left them 20 units short of what they needed to equip the full-time officers.
“That’s with no spares, just the basics of what we need to get the job done,” Miller said.
The city council had agreed to cover the cost of the remaining units at their Aug. 21 meeting, in order to take advantage of a discount available at the time on the $6,000-apiece radios. Mayor Jeremy Stutsman asked for the $110,000 appropriation after remarking that he saw firsthand the communication issues caused by the old radios, during the active shooter training police held at Goshen Middle School Aug. 3.
-From news article in The Elkhart Truth (www.elkharttruth.com)]
