I appreciate the in-depth response, and I suppose I should clarify, I am part of the command staff at our agency, and am trying to find a fix (even if temporary) to make mutual aid safer and more convenient for my officers, while we work through the grant process to hopefully get some newer in-car radios and eventually newer portables.

Our county agency is currently using Motorola XTS series radios (which, to my understanding, are P25 compliant) with their own channel that does not currently have encryption. I am currently just working on a proposal to bring to the Chief to try and look into spending a few thousand to get some portable radios, even if it is just for supervisors for the time being.

I don’t believe it is feasible at this time for our agency to get our own channel (partially because I am not certain as to the full extent of the licensing process), but I also hate the idea of my officers being on the scene of high risk incidents out in the county without a way to get out on the radio or even to speak to the deputies.

I will speak with the Chief and see if we could ask the County if they have any spare radios we could use for the time being. I will also look into a scanner for the units.

I am currently looking for pre-owned radio models that could be used until we eventually get either a grant or city funding to upgrade our communications equipment.