Marlboro Co. Sheriff’s Office Gets $868K for Technology and Equipment Upgrades
State or federal grant funds technology and equipment improvements for the county sheriff's fleet
Source: WPDE ↗
The Marlboro County, South Carolina, Sheriff’s Office is receiving $868,040 in federal Community Project Funding to replace patrol vehicles and modernize equipment. U.S. Rep. Russell Fry formally presented the grant during a visit to the sheriff’s office in Bennettsville.
The office runs 34 patrol cars, several of which have been out of service for months because they no longer run. The $868,040 will cover six replacement patrol cars, each equipped with its own computer, along with ballistic vests, body-worn cameras, new radios and an emergency backup generator. Sheriff Larry McNeil said dedicated in-car computers will let deputies stop sharing equipment and should cut response times between calls. “We should be able to get calls much quicker with better vehicles,” McNeil said, according to WPDE.
McNeil said the grant arrived at a difficult moment. “It’s just, it is tough. Funding right now, economically, is tough for us,” he said. He added that without the federal money, secured in December, the cost of the same improvements would have fallen entirely on county taxpayers. “The best thing the taxpayers will get is less money that they’re going to have to pay for the things that we need, because had we not gotten this grant in December, we would still be responsible in the county,” McNeil said.
Fry said rural funding needs were a recurring theme when he first campaigned. “When I first ran for office, it was what I heard from the Pee Dee counties, was really a cry for help. They wanted, they needed help. It’s harder in rural communities. It really is,” Fry said. He described the upgrades as a major step toward modernizing the department, and the funding is also intended to support fentanyl and narcotics enforcement and improve interagency communications.
McNeil said the sheriff’s office plans to extend some of the equipment and communications benefits to the Bennettsville Police Department, Clio Police Department and McColl Police Department rather than retaining all resources within his own agency.
