Merrillville police getting new radios thanks to federal grant

With the help of local representatives in Washington, the Merrillville Police Department received a grant worth nearly $1 million to upgrade its radios — equipment the department said is in dire need of replacing.

"I don't want to call it life-changing, but it is," Merrillville Police Chief Kosta Nuses said.

The $963,000 grant allows the department to purchase approximately 75 "state-of-the-art" radios, which Merrillville Operations Commander Matthew Paunicka described as "smartphones wrapped in a radio."

Built by Motorola, the new communication devices feature live GPS tracking as well as Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity, Nuses said.

In a news conference Wednesday, Nuses said the radios the force has been using are well past their recommended service life and that the cost to repair them was becoming steep.

To make matters worse, the department then learned Lake County Emergency Communications would be switching to a different frequency, rendering the old radios useless.

The staff began researching the cost for replacement. Nuses said each handheld radio was going to cost between $11,000 and $12,000 depending on the package.

"For a department that operates on an extremely limited budget, these expenses of purchasing new radios were not just burdensome, they were impossible," he said.

U.S. Representative Frank Mrvan's office told town officials about a grant opportunity through the Community Project Funding, Griffith Town Council President Rick Bella said.

The town applied for the grant, allowing Mrvan to fight for the federal funding.

"Our brave first responders go to work each day in service of our Region, and we must ensure they have the technology and equipment they need to keep themselves and our communities safe," Mrvan said.

Merrillville Operations Commander Matthew Paunicka said the new radios also provide the ability to send information and images directly through the radios.

Additional ways for officers to stay connected is a big deal, Nuses said.

"Radios are the lifeline of officers," Nuses said. "These capabilities will greatly enhance our strategic operations and improve our response times, ensuring that we can serve our community more effectively."

The major announcement comes during a different financial burden for the department. In September, Nuses announced his department would be forced to prematurely sell its fleet of 15 gently used Dodge Durango pursuit vehicles.

At the end of 2022, Nuses said the department began encountering "catastrophic" engine failure in the Dodge vehicles, most of which had fewer than 15,000 miles.

Merrillville police tried to resolve the problems through its dealer and then through Dodge itself, Nuses said. In May, Dodge told the department it would have the parts needed to fix the engine problems in two weeks.

Those parts never came.

The Indiana State Police has encountered similar problems with its Dodge Durango pursuit cars, according to previous Times reporting. In June, state police said 39 of the 219 Durangos issued to troopers in the past year had experienced mechanical failures due to a defective oil cooler.

Nuses said he purchased each Durango for roughly $33,000. He said it would cost significantly more to buy one today.

Nuses does not know how much he'll be able to sell the Durangos for.