The Patrol Car Can Call City Hall

A two-way radio connection between City Hall and the police patrol car began operating in Shamokin on December 11, 1947. Installation had started earlier that week and was completed the day before. The borough's new equipment was ready for police use.

The base set was installed in the police court at City Hall, with another set in the patrol car. The station's call letters were WKXU. Members of the police department and several borough officials had been licensed to operate the equipment. The new arrangement linked the officers' vehicle with their headquarters by radio.

Under the Bell Telephone rental contract described in the newspaper, the borough would pay $54 a month plus an installation charge. Tests on December 10 had covered parts of the community, and the paper reported excellent reception. Burgess Thomas F. Landy said the radio would make service more efficient by allowing calls to be answered within minutes. That was the intended benefit of the new connection; the report did not measure later response times.