WINNEBAGO COUNTY (WIFR) -- Sheriff Richard A. Meyers is pleased to announce that the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office was recently awarded a grant in the amount of $290,420.00 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) for the purchase of StarCom21 radios. The grant will pay for over 60 radios.

This was a competitive grant process that was distributed through the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority.

The Sheriff’s Office received the highest funding in the State of Illinois. These funds will be used to purchase mobile radios for the department’s operations vehicles to enhance interoperable communications throughout the region and State, both in day to day operations as well as for emergency situations.

These are dual band radios which will allow deputies to communicate with the State Police, neighboring counties, and Rockford Police on the StarCom band, while maintaining our current communications configuration to communicate with all other agencies in our county who are operating on our current infrastructure.

These radios also meet the narrow banding requirements set forth by the FCC which take effect 01/01/13.