MERRILL, Wis. (WSAU) – Merrill has approved purchasing a batch of updated radios for the police department in the wake of this month's tornado.
Merrill police chief Ned Seubert says the department needs a new collection of radios so that all officers can have a radio to take home. During the tornado, the department only had enough radios to cover the four on duty personnel at the time of the storm. That lead to a number of miscues when officers needed some way to communicate with the rest of the emergency responders out trying to handle the situation.
The new radios the department is getting are upgraded, and include locational tracking as well as improved channel support. Seubert says that would allow for the officers to have a better sense of what channel they're dialing to while not looking at the radio and to better radio in for support in an emergency.
The 18 radios will cost the city $33,500.
