Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Police continue to have problems with new system

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 04:22:44 -0500

Police continue to have problems with new system

The Associated Press
3/20/03 3:46 AM

DETROIT (AP) -- A new statewide digital radio system, intended to help
state police and other police agencies communicate, has failed to live up
to expectations, some officials say.

The 181-tower, $221 million system was first envisioned 10 years ago and
completed last September. Since then, there have been significant
problems, said Mark A. Porter, an attorney for the State Police Troopers
Association.

"It's like they built a racehorse and are still trying to get it to walk," Porter
told The Detroit News for a story Thursday.

A situation could easily escalate into a tragedy if police and other
emergency workers cannot communicate with each other, Porter said.

Supporters acknowledge that the Michigan Public Safety Communications
System has problems.

"No radio system will provide you with 100 percent coverage 100 percent of
the time," said state police Captain Tom Miller, who supervised the
system for four years. "If you have something that does, it's financially
impractical."

Reported problems include dead zones where there is no radio coverage,
portable radios that are useless in buildings and the inability to deliver
computer data.

Some officers, including state troopers, carry Nextel cell telephones in
cars for backup.

State officials say the old system was much worse and needed to be
replaced. It was so outdated it included towers that did not meet
construction codes and could not even be climbed by technicians, Miller
said.

"We would have loved to have had a system with in-building coverage
everywhere, but it would have easily cost two or three times more," Miller
said. "We would probably still be planning it today."

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?g7919_BC_MI--PoliceRadio&&news&newsflash-michigan

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