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Council OKs $43,491 for radios to modernize adult probation field communications
Summary
Allen County Adult Probation will purchase eight new Motorola radios after council approved a $43,491 appropriation from probation user‑fee reserves; staff cited a projected price increase and need for radios compatible with sheriff dispatch.
The Allen County Council approved a $43,491 appropriation on Wednesday to buy eight Motorola radios for the Adult Probation Department.
Eric Zimmerman, chief probation officer, told the council the department planned to replace aging radios used by field officers and had initially requested four this year and four next year. Motorola informed county staff that prices may rise by about 20 percent before year-end, so the department sought funding now to complete the eight‑unit purchase and avoid the anticipated increase. Zimmerman said the radios are the same model used by county sheriff deputies and integrate with county dispatch.
Zimmerman said the purchase will be paid from the probation user‑fee fund (Fund 230) and is not a general‑fund expense. A motion to appropriate $43,491 from the probation user‑fee fund carried 7-0.
Zimmerman said the department’s goal is to avoid repeated purchases as technology changes; he noted that the radios currently in use are about 15 years old and that Motorola will eventually phase support out of older models.
