Donation helps sheriff's department with communications equipment needs

Southeast Missourian

BENTON, Mo. -- A Blodgett, Mo., businessman has contributed to the safety of Scott County Sheriff's deputies, Sheriff Rick Walter said Monday.

David Russell, of Russell Tank-Tech in Blodgett, paid for the department's new base radio repeater, a necessary tool for effective communication between deputies, Walter said. Russell could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The repeater, which cost a little more than $16,000, allows the deputies to have clear communications from their squad cars and often from hand-held radios in most parts of the county. The new equipment is the cutting edge of communications technology, Walter said, allowing the department to comply with Federal Communications Commission regulations that require all departments to use narrow band radios with a digital capability. The digital capability allows deputies to make secure sensitive radio traffic communications so that they cannot be heard by anyone outside the department communications system.

"This is definitely a step up from what we had before," Walter said.

Walter said he department received grant funding last year to upgrade its radios from analog to digital, but hadn't found any funding to buy the repeater.