(Farmville, VA) – The Longwood University Police Department (LUPD) has earned a grant totaling $25k through the Department of Criminal Justice Services to upgrade their handheld radios for communications between departments. The departments included are the LUPD, the Farmville PD, the Prince Edward County Sheriff’s Office, and the Hampden-Sydney PD. The grant is the only one available to law enforcement departments serving higher education institutions and recognizes LUPD’s commitment to public safety on and off campus.
This grant enables the department to modernize their handheld radios from analog to digital signals, which are more secure, allow clearer transmissions, and are compatible with other law enforcement organizations. All this allows real-time communications during response situations among all three organizations and across multiple jurisdictions. The Sheriff’s Office completed the transition, while Farmville PD is completing the process.
Lieutenant Stuart Raybold of the LUPD emphasized the importance of communication with the other agencies through the LUPD’s status as an agency with concurrent jurisdiction with the town of Farmville.
“Most of us are sworn deputy sheriffs with Prince Edward County,” Raybold stated. “[We] kind of need to be able to communicate back and forth with those agencies, and not just have a common dispatch center for us in Farmville.”
The Department of Criminal Justice Services, the provider of the grant, serves to “promote public safety in the Commonwealth” and find proper solutions to preserve and enhance public safety and maintain effectiveness throughout the criminal justice system.
According to Lt. Raybold, the grant was awarded due to the LUPD’s special relationship with Farmville. “We’re very unique, even in the state,” Raybold reflects. “Most colleges only have authority for the police department on the campus roads adjacent to the campus…that got changed for Longwood years ago because the student body has such an impact on the town.”
Raybold continues his reflection, stating, “We’re actually dispatched to handle calls anywhere and have gone out in the county and been the first or second units on calls in the county. It’s rare, but it happens.”
Lieutenant Christopher Moss of the Farmville Police Department supported Lt. Raybold’s claim, verifying that the LUPD “often backs us up on calls.” He also explained that the equipment changes are a “constant upgrade,” and this transition greatly improves the communications and coordination with all three partners.
Emergency Communications Manager, Jackie Gilbert, emphasized the importance of communication between the departments and police forces with the radio, calling radios the “most important tool” that both the dispatch center and the agencies have. Farmville’s dispatch center has already made the switch to digital technology. This Department of Criminal Justice Services grant demonstrates the positive impact grants have on communities.
Longwood’s Office of Research, Grants and Sponsored Projects (ORGSP) provides support to university faculty and staff interested in obtaining external funding for their research, scholarly and creative activities. The comprehensive support services ORGSP provides to the campus community for the preparation and successful administration of externally-sponsored projects include funding searches; proposal development and support guidance; proposal review and submission; negotiation and processing of awards; execution of contracts and sub-awards; interpretation of sponsor guidelines and requirements and grant training workshops.
If you would like more information about ORGSP, please call 434-395-2987 or email Dr. Alix Fink (finkad@longwood.edu) or Jim Wiecking (wieckingjw@longwood.edu).
