BNSF grant helps upgrade sheriff's radios

January 30, 2023

Like most things, communication is important, but in law enforcement it is critical. The Sheriff’s Office started installing trunk repeaters in their patrol vehicles to boost the radio signal from deputies' handheld radios by going through a repeater system in the vehicle, extending the range of what they can receive and transmit.

The Boundary County Sheriff's Office had some funding to put these trunk repeaters in most of their patrol vehicles but not all of them. Last year, they wrote a grant to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Foundation for funds to equip the remaining vehicles with the trunked repeaters, and last week the sheriff’s office received a $5,000 grant to obtain the additional repeaters.

"I'm thankful for the support that BNSF Railway Foundation has made, not only to the Sheriff’s Office, but other organizations within Boundary County," Sheriff David Kramer said. "Having better communications in remote parts of our county improves safety for everyone involved."