With help from the Commonwealth Regional Council (CRC), the Farmville Police Department is applying for a grant that would provide new handheld radios for the police department.

“There is an application in the works for grant funding from the USDA Rural Development,” said CRC Deputy Director Todd Fortune “The new radios would be P-25 compliant and would replace older radios that are in need of replacement.”

P-25 compliant was initiated by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) to ensure that two-way radios are interoperable.

According to the APCO the goal of P25 is to enable public safety responders to communicate with each other and, thus, achieve enhanced coordination, timely response, and efficient and effective use of communications equipment.

Farmville Police Chief A.Q. “Andy” Ellington said the grant could provide up to $50,000 with 25% of local matching funds.

According to Ellington, the replacement of handheld radios is just the beginning, and the entire communication system will need to be upgraded in the future.

“I am searching everywhere for grants to help the department with this,” Ellington said.