New Radios Mean Clearer Emergency Communication, Police Chief Says

Village police and firefighters will be better prepared in the event of a large-scale emergency or disaster thanks to radios given to them via a Cook County program, South Chicago Heights Police Chief William Joyce told the Board of Trustees at its Monday meeting.

The police department has been given 25 800 mg. radios free of charge, Joyce said. The fire department received 15, giving the village 40 in total.

The radios are valued at $7,000 apiece and were purchased by Cook County via a Homeland Security grant. Officials have been dispensing the radios via this program to communities throughout the county.

With radios in hand “we will exceed what the FCC requires (in terms of) radio requirements,” Joyce said.  “If there is ever a disaster there will be an inter-operable channel” for South Chicago Heights and other communities to tune into, thanks to these radios.

South Chicago Heights already conducted a practice run with Cicero, Lemont, Chicago and Des Plaines police. Officers traveled as far afield as Monee, the area around Balmoral racetrack and Dyer, IN.

“(Communication) was clear as a bell,” Joyce said.

With the old equipment, village police had limited lines of communication with other departments. If South Chicago Heights had an event and Park Forest and Lansing assisted, officers couldn’t talk to each other, Joyce explained.