San Benito Police Department gets upgrade to radio system

SAN BENITO — A new digital radio system being installed in Rio Grande Valley police departments is expected to improve communication between police here and area law enforcement agencies, Assistant City Manager Art Rodriguez said Wednesday.
The Rio Grande Valley Communications Group and the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council are using $6.5 million in federal and state grants to fund the digital radio system that will equip Valley public service agencies, said Pilar Rodriguez, chairman of the Valley Communic-ations Group, which includes cities in Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties.
“It’s a common channel that everyone can talk on,” Pilar Rodriguez said.
Installation of the digital radio system is the result of a mandate from the Federal Communic-ations Commission that requires law enforcement agencies across the United States to install the technology by the end of the year, Art Rodriguez said.
In San Benito, the digital system will replace an outdated analogue system known to drop communication between police, dispatchers and other agencies, Art Rodriguez said.
The city used a $130,605 federal grant to purchase 14 mobile radios and 50 handheld units in October, he said.
The Development Council awarded the city a $153,000 console to mount in its radio dispatch station because of the city’s early purchase of the radio system, Art Rodriguez said.
“We’re ahead of the game,” he said. “We’re among some of the first cities in the Valley to acquire the radios.”
The city is installing digital radios in 12 new 2011 Ford Crown Victorias that arrived before their original Feb. 8 delivery date, Art Rodriguez said.
Last month, city commissioners issued tax anticipation notes, or the pledge of future tax revenues, to fund the $308,880 purchase of 12 patrol cars that will replace high-mileage vehicles in the police department’s aging fleet.
Officials will pay $65,000 a year over a five-year period to purchase the cars, which are financed at a 1.84 percent interest rate.

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