Sheriff: Deputies on better radios

Radio communication issues are a thing of the past, Neshoba County Sheriff Eric Clark declared after new radios providing more robust and dependable service were installed last week.

Deputies are using the new radios on the MSWIN system developed by the state after Hurricane Katrina.

“All of the communication shortfalls that we were experiencing are a thing of the past,” Clark said. “They (radios) are all installed. All of my officers have access to them.”

Clark said they’ve already used the new system to communicate with other agencies.

“We went and picked up a prisoner in Oktibbeha County the other day,” Clark said. “We have communicated at that distance and have not found an area yet in Neshoba County that we did not have adequate communications.”

Others they have already communicated with include Newton, Winston and Kemper counties and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks.

The MSWIN radios were installed in preparation for Fourth of July weekend, which Clark said went smoothly because of increased patrols. 

“Our numbers were really, really low this week,” Clark said. “We didn’t really have any problems over the weekend.”

Deputies have been issued personal radios that are compatible with the system as well as having radios installed in all of the fleet vehicles.

“These radios will make the county a safer place and are already making our deputies safer,” Clark said.

The Neshoba County Board of Supervisors voted to purchase 22 portable and 20 mobile MSWIN compatible radios in May.

Shanks Communications of Jackson had the low bid at $49,680 well below Clark’s initial estimates.

According to the Mississippi Wireless Communication Commission, MSWIN serves the state by providing reliable redundant communications for the state’s first responders.

MSWIN is a P-25 700 MHz LMR public safety communication system that is designed to provide 97% mobile area coverage statewide via multiple sites.

MSWIN is the only statewide interoperable emergency communication voice and data network available for use by both state and local public safety entities. It is designed to allow any manufacturer’s P-25 compliant radios to operate on the system.

This type of system offers the following benefits:

• The ability to coordinate communications with other agencies or jurisdictions;

• The ability to purchase radios from more than one vendor; and

• The ability to share resources to enhance communications and control costs.

Clark said other law enforcement agencies in East Mississippi have already gone to the MSWIN radios.