Residents Will No Longer Hear Lawrence County Police Scanner Traffic

Last updated on Wednesday, September 23, 2015

(BEDFORD) - Residents that enjoy listening to Lawrence County Police scanner traffic will no longer be able to hear it.

The department on Friday went digital.

"This is a project we have been working on for a while," Sheriff Mike Branham told the commissioners. "Residents will no longer will be able to pick up our traffic on their scanners. This was not intentional. There are some good points on residents listening to the scanner, but there are also some bad points."

The department chose to go digital after the FCC insisted the department use narrow band on their VHF radios. That cut the department's coverage.

"We had no choice but to go digital," Sheriff Branham added. "Without we were putting officers in dangerous situations where they couldn't get help if they needed it."

Now the department has 90 percent coverage on their portable units and 100 percent coverage in the county on their vehicle radios.''

The department also has 800 MHZ radios to use to communicate with neighboring department and Indiana State Police.

In other business:

Sheriff Branham reported there were 131 inmates in the county jail Tuesday morning. Of those 33 were females, with 98 males and no Department of Correction holds.
Sheriff Branham accepted bids on painting some interior areas of the jail. The bids for the exterior of the building came in high, so he is requesting other bids on the project.
Highway Superintendent David Holmes says crews are continuing to work on paving and patching county roads. They are also working on widening Moore Lane to the Lawrence County Recreation Park.
Crews are also repairing guardrails on Tunnelton Road.
Duke Energy requested to close South Meridian Road during daytime hours in the area of Boone Lane and Gun Club roads in the near future to do work.
Work will begin on Bridge 82 on Judah Logan Road over Salt Creek in October. Crews hope to begin the work during fall break so as not to interfere with school buses.
Commissioner Bill Spreen received a complaint about there being no guardrails on Snake Hill in Lawrenceport and about the sewers from area cabins draining on the roadway. In the winter that sewage freezes making the area slick and dangerous. Holmes says the area is too rocky to install guardrails.
Commissioners approved a contract for county employee's health screenings. The county will pay a total of $3,300 for those health screens or $55 per employee. The employee pays nothing. The screenings will be November 17, 18, 19.

1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com

Click here to go back to previous page