UNION, W.Va. (WVVA) – Monroe County Sheriff’s officers now have constant access to radio and cellular service throughout the county thanks to Starlink internet terminals added to their patrol vehicles.
This ensures that the connection between MPs remains intact, no matter where they are sent.
“The county only has about 75% cell phone coverage and 85% radio coverage, so there are many areas of the county where an officer cannot reach us at the 911 center,” said Monroe County 911 Chief Richard Miller.
Miller says the technology has been installed in nine Monroe County patrol cars and in the emergency dispatch center’s road map vehicle. The terminals are satellite-based and only require a clear view of the sky. Miller says the technology can even be removed from the vehicles and taken into the field if necessary.
“You can pull it off the cruiser, take the portable battery and take it into the field, set up a command post on a flat rock and keep it in action for four hours,” Miller said.
Jeremy Meadows, Monroe County Clerk, is credited with initiating the initiative to install Starlink devices in sheriff’s deputies’ vehicles. Meadows says he himself has a device in his car and that’s what gave him the idea.
He says some of these units were also purchased to enable communication between rural voting districts and the election official’s office during elections.
“As far as voting goes, we had to send messages home to voters to call the polling place. They call us and we go and help. Now that’s completely gone and they can contact us from anywhere,” Meadows said.
Each Starlink unit costs about $300, and internet service for each unit costs just under $50 a month. The money for the Starlink units was made possible thanks to compensation received by prisons from opioid settlement funds.
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