The Chillicothe Fire Department and Police Department will soon have new radios, upgrading the technology and safety for both departments. The aging radios used by the departments have served them well, but in the past year, an incident showed just how important new and improved radios are for each department.
Chillicothe Police Chief Jon Maples says the incident was just last August and involved a stand-off, in town.
Maples says in addition to the radios, the Police Department will receive other upgrades for the vehicles.
Chief Maples says these radios will go a long way to allow the officers to communicate with the hand-held radios or from their car, but this will not fix all the problems. Fire Chief Darrell Wright says there are a few spots in town that the signal is a little weak and inside one business, because of the manufacturing and materials, they are unable to communicate inside the building.
Wright says the new radios will help them with communications in town, in county and when on the road or assisting other communities. He will talk more about that on Monday.
