Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Woodbridge police have a new radio system- Motorola System Engineer Predicts 97 Percent Coverage

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 23:46:06 -0500

Can you hear me now?
Woodbridge police have a new radio system

Terri Miles, Editor March 19, 2003

WOODBRIDGE - After nearly a decade of patchy radio communication capability, the
Woodbridge Police Department has a new radio system.

For years, officers out on patrol risked the danger of being cut off from headquarters
because dead zones in town blocked radio communication.

Recently the town signed a contract with Motorola, which guaranteed 95 percent coverage.
Last week, representatives from Motorola worked closely with senior dispatcher Brian
Freeman on testing the system from areas throughout town. By Friday, in the midst of
testing, documentation showed 93 percent coverage with the new portable radios.

Deputy Police Chief Raymond Stuart and Lt. Jeffrey Leiby said they are pleased with the
test results so far.
"They still have a lot more to test, but at 93 percent so far, it's really good," Stuart
said. "It's relatively high."
Thus far, only Leiby, Stuart, Police Chief Dennis Phipps and five police sergeants have
the new portable radios. After testing is completed, each of the department's 23 patrol
officers will receive a portable radio. They no longer will have to share radios with one
another.

Problems being addressed "I've been going around town testing the radio," Leiby said.
"There are a few problem areas, but we're documenting them and they are being addressed."
Stuart said he already can see a major difference.
"When you consider that, in the past, officers got out of their cars with the portables
and communication was non-existent, now we have communication," Stuart said. "Now other
officers who are in their patrol cars also can hear an officer on a portable. That didn't
happen before."

Leiby said he tested his radio on Downs Road, where officers never could get through to
dispatch before, and he could be heard. "They can finally hear what's going on," Leiby
said. The area near Bradley Road known as the "flats" once was notorious for its dead
spots, but with the new radio system, officers could be heard clearly when they called in.

Stuart said the Motorola system is so good, in fact, that when he was in Shelton, he could
hear Leiby clearly talking on his portable radio back in Woodbridge.

"This is a major improvement," Leiby said. "It's refreshing."
Stuart said last week's testing was exclusively for the portable radios. This week,
Motorola was scheduled to install the "mobile" radios in the police cars. Marrella praised
for efforts Both he and Leiby commended First Selectman Amey Marrella for her efforts in
pushing for a new radio system. Before becoming first selectman, Marrella was chairman of
the Tower Committee, which investigated the feasibility of a cell tower in town, and
understood every aspect of the communication system needed to fulfill the police
department's needs, according to Stuart.

"With the old radios, officers had to rely on cellular telephones to communicate," Stuart
said. "We've got the right radio system. It's what we needed. "Leiby said the new system
was a critical need. "You have to have police officers who can communicate in the field -
with the dispatchers and one another," Leiby said. "You just have to have it. It's money
well spent. It's a worthwhile investment for the town."

Strategic placement a key

The new system relies on repeaters and receivers that are placed strategically through-out
the town.
Dispatcher Freeman said a new receiver at Oak Lane Country Club will take care of some
problems that still exist.
Freeman said the mobile phones radios will not have to be tested because "if the portables
pass, the mobiles will, too."
Motorola system engineer Bob Cady designed the system. He said his company is identifying
all the remaining dead spots and addressing each one as it appears.

All testing is being done with the radios placed on a belt and a microphone attached to
the tester's shoulder. That is the way the officers will carry the radios, according to
Cady.

Cady said that in some areas, the terrain makes communication impossible, but by moving
just a few feet to the left or right, an officer might be able to pick up a signal.

"If the signal doesn't get through and I could pick the radio up to my head level, it
would probably work," he said. "Radio signals bounce around. Sometimes they'll fill in;
sometimes they won't."

Even in last week's wintry weather conditions, testing proved that the system would work
well for Woodbridge.
"We'll probably end up with around 97 percent coverage," Cady said.

 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7420069&BRD=1342&PAG=461&dept_id=433249&rfi=6