LaSalle County discusses $720,000 portable-radio proposal to improve deputies' coverage and interoperability

LaSalle County Public Safety Committee members on Thursday heard the sheriff and Motorola representatives present a plan to replace aging portable radios with newer, multi-band devices that can use P25 land-mobile radio systems, LTE and Wi‑Fi as fallback to extend coverage. The sheriff described multiple recent incidents in which deputies experienced insufficient radio reception while on traffic stops and high-speed pursuits and said most county portables are "15 to 20 years old." He said better radios would increase the chance of deputies making contact with dispatch or calling for backup during critical incidents. "Isn't the cost to replace the outdated equipment worth the expense to bring our people home at the end of the day?" the sheriff asked the committee. Motorola representatives Dominic Storley, area sales manager for Illinois, and Stuart Flowers, account executive for…