Supervisors purchase new $50K radio system for sheriff

Supervisors purchase new $50K radio system for sheriff

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The Neshoba County Sheriff’s Department will be going to the MSWIN radio system that Sheriff Eric Clark said will vastly improve communications.

The Neshoba County Board of Supervisors voted to purchase 22 portable and 20 mobile MSWIN compatible radios during Monday’s board meeting. 

Shanks Communications of Jackson had the low bid at $49,680.

That price was half of what Sheriff Clark had originally thought it would be.

“It came in way under my initial estimate,” Clark said. “The quote I got last year was slightly under $100,000. We reached out. There was a company here that was doing a lot of work on the Reservation. They had some pretty good pricing and offered us the same pricing (as the Reservation). It brought the numbers down.”

Clark hopes to be using MSWIN within the next month.

Supervisors also approved the purchase of a dispatch radio for the 911 Emergency Management Center. It and licensing cost $11,032. The sheriff’s radios will be paid for with money out of the county’s General Fund while the dispatch radio will be paid for from 911 funds.

“The order is being placed today,” said Jeff Mayo, county administrator. “They will have to order everything and we will have talk groups assigned by the Wireless Commission.”

According to the Mississippi Wireless Communication Commission, MSWIN serves the state by providing reliable redundant communications for our 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. The city of Philadelphia’s fire department and police department are also in the process of moving to MSWIN.

“I plan to sign a memorandum of understandings with all sheriff’s departments whose counties border ours,” Clark said. “As far as being able to communicate with other agencies, this is something we had to do. Most of our surrounding counties have transitioned to MSWIN radios and this was the next step for us. I am sure in the future, you will see more of our counties transitioning to MSWIN.”






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