Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Emergency network faces static- Shortfall has left police without hookup or crucial equipment.

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:44:03 -0500

Emergency network faces static- Shortfall has left police without hookup or
crucial equipment.
By Michele McNeil Solida
[email-masked]
November 24, 2003

A $90 million effort to improve emergency
communications in the state has run out of
money, leaving 37 counties in southern and
Central Indiana without technology deemed
critical for public safety.
In some cases, expensive equipment worth
thousands of dollars is sitting in police
departments and warehouses virtually untouched
because Project Hoosier SAFE-T is incomplete.
When the project was launched in 1997,
state officials promised a state-of-the-art
communications network to allow emergency
responders throughout Indiana to talk to one
another -- a crucial need during disasters such as
floods and tornadoes.

State law enforcement officials say most
police, firefighters and emergency personnel use
separate communications networks, making it
hard to communicate with one another. SAFE-T
is designed for both analog and digital radios, so
a firefighter can talk directly to a state trooper.
So far, $28.7 million has been spent on the
system. In 2002, legislators approved another
$10 million annually in license branch fees until
2019 to help maintain and expand the network.

But State Police say they still need about $35 million more to finish the
project.  However, many legislators are upset over how the money has been
handled and aren't inclined to spend more.
That has left Bartholomew County Sheriff Kenny Whipker with $420,000 worth of
high-tech radios and other equipment he can't fully use. He and other officers
in Indiana were told they could tap into this statewide network by 2006.  Now,
there's no telling whether, or when, that will happen.  "We're ready. We just
need the (radio) towers," Whipker said. "I'm hoping we can be moved up on the
list. We've made this a priority for our department." The project began in 1997
when the Indiana State Police led the charge to shift public safety agencies to
a statewide communications system -- eliminating the outdated and inadequate
systems that weren't compatible with each other.  It's a pricey effort. In 2000,
the state signed an $82 million contract with Motorola through 2010 -- and added
another $8 million to the contract in January.  The contract includes a
$5,809-a-week salary for the project manager.  Motorola is supposed to build or
find 126 communications towers to develop the system across the state, but
there's only enough money for 68 of them.  Areas already benefiting from the
system include Johnson and Morgan counties, part of Marion County, and the
region around the VX nerve-agent storage facility in Newport.
Twenty-three tower sites that will cover most of northern Indiana will be
complete by mid-2004.
But 37 counties -- including Vanderburgh, Brown, Monroe and Henry counties --
will be untouched by the network.
Legislators established a source of money to jump-start the project in 2002 by
diverting $1.25 per transaction from existing Bureau of Motor Vehicles fees to
the towers.
But legislators also required that $4 million annually from that fee be used to
ease the State Police DNA crime lab backlog. That hasn't left enough money to
spread communications towers across the entire state.  Indiana State Police
Superintendent Melvin Carraway said legislators knew they were making a
compromise that would mean a slower expansion of the communications system when
they approved the lab money.  "They understood we would need more money," he
said.
But legislators disagree
.
Sen. Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, who fought in 2002 for the money for the
communications system, said: "We were told we were leaving enough money. We were
told this would work."

Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Garton, R-Columbus, said he feels like he
was misled. Part of his district encompasses Bartholomew County, which may never
benefit from the system.

"I'm not pleased," said Garton, adding that state officials will find it much
harder to get additional money for the project. The state's deficit now exceeds
$800 million.  Even in counties that can access the new network, problems
persist.  Johnson County, the first county to get the towers and use the
network, is considered the model for the rest of the state. But officials there
don't offer a strong endorsement of the system.

In 2001, the Greenwood Police Department bought 200 laptops at $4,500 apiece --
one for each squad car -- to be used with the network. But the computers are
sitting in a warehouse because State Police and the Integrated Public Safety
Commission, which manages the project, haven't figured out how to make the
laptops compatible with the other communications equipment.  And now, State
Police have cut off the ability for troopers in Johnson County to easily talk
with the local law enforcement agencies through the system. That's frustrating
to Greenwood Assistant Police Chief Rick McQueary, who says that decision
defeats the purpose of a new system.

Carraway, the State Police superintendent, defends his agency's decision, saying
some troopers were abusing the system by having personal chats over the radios
that are only meant to be used in emergencies. He said they can still
communicate over a regional talk group, arranged through dispatchers.
But that takes precious minutes -- and in an intense situation like a shootout,
McQueary said, an officer's last thought is to think about finding the right
channel.  "The benefits? We have a somewhat better radio system," McQueary said.
"But we can't talk to the people we need to. That was the whole point. I would
say to other local agencies that they need to explore all of their options." For
many local agencies, however, the top problem is money.  The state doesn't
provide new radios and equipment for each officer; local governments must
usually fund that. In December, the state will award $7 million in grants to
local agencies to help them buy equipment, but that won't go far enough.
Carraway said only 6 percent to 12 percent of local agencies can afford to fully
use the technology.

The Bartholomew County Sheriff's Department came up with the money to buy radios
but now is left wondering whether it will ever be included in the communications
system.

"We knew we'd be the last phase of the project," said Sheriff Whipker, whose
department is working on tapping into Johnson County's network, "but we didn't
know we might not get on the network at all."
Call Star reporter Michele McNeil Solida at 1-317-444-2771.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/4/095947-6604-092.html

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