Jefferson City Council approves $580K purchase of radios for police and fire departments

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Police and Fire Departments are in the process of receiving 79 new Motorola radios, the purchase totaling $582,326.60 in various grants approved by the Jefferson City Council on Monday.

Through this purchase, Jefferson City first responders are expected to be more efficient in their emergency response time by expanding the radio connectivity range and streamlining cross-department communication.

According to meeting documents, the public safety grants for this purchase came from the American Rescue Plan Act, State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, and First Responder Capital Improvement and Interoperable Communications Equipment Grant.

The Jefferson City Fire Department and Police Department will be receiving 40 and 39 radios, respectively.

"These types of radios, like I said before, have been sought out for a number of years now," Ward 4 Councilman Chris Leuckel said. "These radios could keep us in pretty good condition for a while, normally, a ten-year horizon."

According to Jefferson City Fire Department Division Chief Jason Turner, the radios are meant to streamline communications for first responders in Jefferson City and its surrounding areas..

"You won't have brand X versus brand A, and it's a lot easier to use much like a cellphone," Turner said. "You have different manufacturers of the cellphone., Radios also have the same issues of having different manufacturers and being able to use the same radio the same way."

Turner said half of the radios have been received.

ABC 17 News reached out to the Jefferson City Police Department.