Subject: [NEXTEL-1] State, A.C. probe emergency radio problems

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 07 Dec 2003 14:11:25 -0500

December 3, 2003

State, A.C. probe emergency radio problems

By BRIDGET MURPHY Staff Writer,

ATLANTIC CITY - City and union officials met Tuesday to talk about problems with
the city's police and fire radios, a week after complaints about dead spots in
the resort's emergency communications system spurred the state to launch an
investigation.
Police and fire union officials said problems with the city's 2-year-old, $2.4
million Motorola digital 800-megahertz system are causing public-safety hazards,
including during the recent Tropicana Casino and Resort garage collapse, but
administration officials said complaints hadn't reached up the chain of command.

An investigator from New Jersey's Office of Public Employees Occupational Safety
and Health, part of the state Department of Labor, began a probe after reading a
story in The Press of Atlantic City last week, union officials said.
Department of Labor spokesman Peter Saharko confirmed Tuesday that a probe is
ongoing, but said there will be no comment until the investigation is finished.

Union and city officials said Tuesday that problems were aired during a two-hour
meeting that included a representative from Motorola and that a state official
will be present at another meeting next week.

Bob Levy, who heads the city's communications center, said the radio system
meets a 95 percent coverage standard in the resort's streets, but has problems
inside some buildings, including casinos.

"New York has the problem. Philadelphia has the problem. ... Can it get any
better? I don't know. But we're sure going to try to find out," he said.

Police union President Sean McCausland said there was some talk at Tuesday's
meeting about upgrading the resort's radio system and that Motorola engineers
are going to look at the city's equipment to see what can be done.

McCausland and fire union President Jimmy Morgan said Tuesday's meeting was a
positive step toward solving radio problems that can compromise the public's
safety when police and firefighters can't transmit or receive communications on
their radios.
Morgan said there was talk of putting repeaters on battalion chiefs' vehicles to
boost radio signals at fire scenes.
"There's going to be money involved," Morgan said, talking about fixing the
system's dead spots. "But you can't put a price on public safety. Police and
firefighters need to communicate."

To e-mail Bridget Murphy at The Press:
[email-masked]
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic/120303RADIOS_D3.html

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