Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Police, Fire Radios Are Overhauled New System Being Tested

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 00:06:44 -0500

Police, Fire Radios Are Overhauled
New System Being Tested

By Clarence Williams
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 9, 2003; Page C05

A technology and public safety team has been all over the District in recent
weeks, visiting scores of nightclubs, apartment buildings, offices and other
places as they tested the city's new emergency communications system.

The troubleshooters targeted locations where emergency radios previously were
apt to cut out, if they worked at all. Now, thanks to $40 million in
improvements, police officers, firefighters and emergency medical crews are
getting more dependable, clear signals, officials say.

The system has been up and running since late September. Rick Burke, a wireless
technology manager for the city, and a public safety team recently concluded
weeks of crisscrossing the city to test it. They found that the changes have
made a big difference in signal strength and sound quality, Burke said.

"It's a major improvement. The city and its first responders are much safer now
having a highly reliable, state-of-the art communications network," Burke said.

District officials are touting the system as one of the most advanced in the
nation. The federal government footed most of the bill in an aid package
approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The fire department
contributed nearly $3.5 million to the venture.

This is not the first time that the city tried to fix the problem. It spent less
than $6 million for a network that was put in operation in January 2001, but the
system remained unreliable.

Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers complained that
poor communications continued to put them and citizens at risk
-- on the streets, in burning buildings and even in hospitals.

Digital fire radios would "honk out" -- a signal radios make when communication
is cut off -- and the police department's analog system yielded poor sound
quality.

"This presented a danger, both to firefighters on fire grounds and police on
incident calls," said Suzanne J. Peck, the city's chief technology officer,
whose department oversaw the recent project.

Officials said the new money was spent to upgrade what was already in place. The
backbone of the system is now much stronger: six more radio antenna sites have
been installed, bringing the total to 10, in all quadrants of the city. Seven
sites are on rooftops of hospitals or D.C. government buildings. The other three
are communications towers, including a new one at a police facility on Rhode
Island Avenue NE.

In addition, 63 emergency vehicles have been outfitted with equipment to amplify
signals. The police department received 2,000 new radios for digital
communications, and 3,500 radios were upgraded.

Peck said the city now has "all the coverage we need" and the system is "fully
interoperable" for police, fire and emergency medical services workers. It also
can link with communications systems used by federal agencies, she said.
Other changes are in store. Metrorail tunnels have never had radio coverage,
Peck said, and D.C. and Metro officials have a separate $4 million project
underway to tie Metro into the city's communications system. The Metro project
is scheduled for completion early next year, she said.

Officials said the D.C. communications system was installed in 18 months,
meeting terms of the federal grant, and the work was done in less than half the
time typically needed for a project of that size. Motorola Inc. worked on the
system with the office of the chief technology officer and the police and fire
departments.

Burke, who works in the city's technology office, helped run the recent series
of tests at 240 buildings in the city. They included a mix of old and new
structures, such as federal buildings, the new convention center, MCI Center and
schools. The team tested radios from various spots on the first floors and
basement levels, calling emergency dispatchers and tracking sound quality and
reliability through thick walls and outlying neighborhoods. He said the new
system "surpassed" its design standards.
Being able to communicate from the interior of structures is extremely
important, Burke said, because that's where the emergency responders tend to be.
"People's lives are at stake," he said.

Union officials from the police and fire departments said they are optimistic
that the new system will improve communications and be much more effective than
the less costly upgrade of 2001.

"What happened last time was the system was built by the budget," said Raymond
Snead of the firefighters union. Firefighters have seen a noticeable change in
service since the system was put into service in late September, Snead said.
Gary Hankins, a D.C. police union consultant, agreed that sound quality has
improved and no dead areas have emerged so far. But technology "takes a beating"
on the street with law enforcement, he said.

"At this point we're still on the promise side," Hankins said. "It seems to be a
significant improvement.
"We're hopeful."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18095-2003Nov9.html

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