I began listening to JeffCo Sheriff's radio traffic when scanners had to have crystals cut for the specific frequency. The first frequencies I remember them using were in the range of 40-50 mhz before moving up to the vhf-high public service frequencies. Later with the change to 800 mhz, I remember listening to the Gilmore repeater on a single frequency of 854.9625 mhz and the Providence repeater on 855.2125 mhz.
The Rock Mountain repeater was trunked while Gilmore and Providence were dedicated to one frequency for the Bessemer/River cars who went into the hills and hollows down by the Warrior River.
Sheriff Woodard and then Hale, Sgt. Smoke, Poodle, the Creighton Brothers-Jack and Jim, Dale Ray, and many others who kept watch for us in the River Cars out of Station 10.
I remember finding what looked like a shallow grave where a human body may have been hidden while in the woods down by Lock 16 while I was hunting and watching the eagles that had begun to winter on the River. I went to Station 10 to report what I had seen. Three cars followed my 1987 GMC Jimmy 4x4 back down to the River. They all crawled into my Jimmy to climb the steep hill to the possible crime scene in the woods. We were just over into Tuscaloosa County, but Sgt. Smoke said that was OK. Sgt. Smoke smiled and said, "The 'Ol Jimmy is climbing this hill mighty good with four wheel drive". Dale Ray noticed my camcorder and asked about it. I told him about seeing eagles and wanting to get video recordings to share with folks that didn't believe they were back. I had used it instead to record video of what we thought was a hidden body and take it to the station to show them.
As it turned out, there was an animal wrapped in a blanket and buried there. It may have been someone's hunting dog that had to be put down or something like that, but we were relieved to find that it wasn't a human body.
I have many other memories of working with the deputies I became friends with while volunteering with the Concord Fire Department. The awful experience of our community being devastated by the tornado of 1998 and again in 2011. I always enjoyed listening to their traffic on the radio when I was relaxing at home or driving in the area. Losing that privilege will be like losing an old friend. It hurts.