Subject: [NEXTEL-1] A.C. radio system safety risk, police, fire unions say

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 07 Dec 2003 14:53:16 -0500

November 25, 2003

A.C. radio system safety risk, police, fire unions say

By BRIDGET MURPHY Staff Writer, (609) 272-7257, E-Mail
ATLANTIC CITY - Radio Timeline

February 2001 - Then-Business Administrator Andrew Mair says Motorola won the
contract for a new 800-megahertz system. Officials say the new equipment, which
should be in place by year's end and cost from $600,000 to $700,000, will
eliminate dead spots inside casinos.

March 2001 - A New York City firefighter's mayday call goes unheard in a fire
and officials there recall $35 million worth of the same radios the Atlantic
City Fire Department is preparing to put in service. Emergency Management
Coordinator Bob Levy says local firefighters will be better trained to use the
radios, which will be field-tested. Officials await City Council's approval of
the budget, which includes about $1 million for the Police Department
changeover.

April 2001 - Fire Union President Jimmy Morgan says he wants the union involved
in the radio field tests following problems in New York City. Fire Chief
Benjamin Brenner says he'll welcome it. Bob Levy says the total changeover
should cost about $1.6 million.

July 2001 - The Atlantic City Expressway Connector tunnel's opening is delayed
because of incompatibilities between the state's 800-megahertz system and the
city's old VHF radio system. The Beach Patrol is on the new 800-megahertz
system.
December 2001 - The Fire Department ends simulcast on the old radio system and
completes transition to the new system. City Council approves a $2.4 million
Motorola system and officials prepare to switch police over.

March 2002 - Consoles for Police Department's changeover are installed in City
Hall, causing small problems with the Fire Department's system.

October 2003 - Police and firefighters report radio problems at Tropicana's
garage collapse.

November 2003 - 911 center shuts down for more than an hour one day after a
power surge in a wind storm. All police officers and firefighters switch to one
digital channel that simulcasts on a frequency on the old radio system.
The police and fire unions say the city's 2-year-old $2.4 million radio
communications system has deficiencies that present serious safety risks, some
of which arose during the recent Tropicana garage collapse.

The union bosses say dead spots are located throughout the city, including in
casinos, where police officers and firefighters sometimes find themselves unable
to hear or transmit on the 800-megahertz digital Motorola system.

But Public Safety Director Bob Flipping, the policy-making head of the Police
and Fire departments, said Monday that he has not received any complaints about
the system and if police officers and firefighters reported radio problems,
including after the Tropicana incident, they were not passed up the chain of
command.

"If there's a particular casino or neighborhood where we're not good at getting
reception, the police and fire(fighters) need to identify them for us," he said.

Bob Levy, the city's former emergency management coordinator, heads the city's
communications center, but is on vacation, officials said. He couldn't be
reached on his cell phone Monday.

Police Union President Sean McCausland said police officers have been filling
out reports about dead spots for the past year and that the city needs to buy
another radio system or spend money upgrading the one that's in place.
McCausland cited a recent hour-long radio-system shutdown - prompted by a
windstorm that kicked off a power surge and then a generator failure in the
city's communications center - along with problems at the Tropicana collapse as
examples of serious public safety risks.

He said other radio failures have happened, including during a standoff with a
gunman inside Bally's Atlantic City in May 2002. Two police officers were unable
to transmit on their radios after cornering the gunman at the end of a hallway
after a chase across the packed casino floor.

"If a police officer cannot communicate, the public is in danger," McCausland
said.

Union officials are unsure about exactly what went wrong with the radios during
the Oct. 30 Tropicana collapse, when four construction workers died and close to
two dozen were injured.

McCausland said problems seem to happen on the radio system when there's a lot
of air traffic. Only one person can transmit, or talk, on the system at a time
or officers cut each other out, he said.

Fire Union Vice President Scott Evans said there were times during the rescue
when firefighters' radio calls went unheard or they couldn't hear calls to them.

The day after the collapse, Deputy Fire Chief John Bereheiko said in an
interview that there were some radio problems, but that officials thought they
might have been related to a solar storm that scientists had warned that week
could disrupt high-frequency radio communications in different parts of the
nation.
But the unions are demanding more answers about radio problems.

"I think we'd like to see a full report done on what happened to the radios that
day," Evans said of the Tropicana incident. "We know we had problems. Are they
being addressed?"
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic/112503RADIOS_N25.html

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/