U.S. Kansas Senator Jerry Moran announced a $408,000 federal grant has been awarded to the Reno County Sheriff's Office during a press conference Thursday morning at the Reno County Courthouse. The grant will allow the Sheriff's Office to acquire technology upgrades and to purchase safety equipment for the correctional facility.

Reno County Sheriff Darrian Campbell said that the grant will fund the Sheriff's Office Modernization Project consisting of two parts. The first part is a radio upgrade for their fleet of vehicles and other mobile commands. The upgrade is a necessary Federal Mandate requiring all Law Enforcement agencies and Dispatch Centers to have all channels that request Criminal Justice Information to be broadcast over radio frequency to be AES Encrypted and their current radios in service do not. They will be upgrading their radios to the APX4500 Enhanced 800 MHZ Mobile radios.

The second part of the Modernization Project will allow the Sheriff's Office to purchase a body scanner to be used in the Reno County Correctional Facility, which will ensure that there is no smuggling of contraband into a secured area for the safety of all employees and inmates. The Smiths Detection B-Scan - Full Body High-Res XRAY machine provides a complete head-to-toe view of the body without a need to remove shoes or raise arms above the head. 

"The Reno County Sheriff’s Office was awarded a $408,000 grant through the Department of Justice’s COPS (Community Oriented Policing) Technology and Equipment Program through Senator Moran’s efforts on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for which Senator Moran is leading Republican," said Mike Zamrzla, Deputy State Director for Sen. Jerry Moran.