Police radio problems STILL??

I've been running into a lot of my old coworkers in Metro lately. One of the first subject matters to come up in our conversation is Metro’s radio system and how it doesn't work, and how it continues not to work.

I know I've done a previous article (“Speak and Spell”) on the sham of a radio system that LVMPD purchased and how promises were made that all the glitches would be fixed.

One of the glitches was how everyone's voice sounded on the radio. When listening to the radio transmission, everyone's voice sounded as if they were talking into a tin can. Everyone's voice sounded the same, and you could not discern any fluctuations in someone's voice such as stress or anxiety.  Officers knew how their co-workers sounded, normally or under stress.  Not anymore.

The promise was made that when the radio system came "online”, that particular anomaly would be remedied.

Now the radio system is online, and everybody's voice still sounds the same.

Requests were made to the officers in the field and to the dispatchers that if they encountered a problem with the radio, to make note of the problem, such as the time, where the officer was when they transmitted on the radio, and other variables.

Numerous comments, e-mails, notes, messages in bottles, banners flying behind airplanes, etc. were given to the folks in charge of the radio.

While I am being facetious, it did appear that every avenue was taken to notify the department of the numerous problems with radio. It's been almost 2 years since the implementation of the new radio system.

The radio system was purchased several years prior to its implementation, which makes me wonder if the warranty ran out before the radio system was put into service.

I know when I buy a piece of equipment, it is covered under warranty and if it isn't working right I can contact the company, and with their help the equipment should work properly.

The information given to the personnel using the radio system was that Harris, the company that owns the radio system, was working hand-in-hand with Metro to properly implement the system.

Rumors abound about the competency of the staff selected to oversee the implementation of Metro's radio system. The Bureau Cmdr. has virtually no experience with this type of system but is in charge of it. I'm not sure of the qualifications of his staff, but it appears they are not equipped to deal with this type of system. Rumors also were that Harris was not cooperating with Metro during this process.

While speaking to the personnel in the field, it is quite apparent that the radio system is very flawed, and in fact quite dangerous to the personnel who use them.  Officers frequently use their personal cell phones to call their dispatcher to notify them of their situation because the radio isn’t working.  Many times the officers get frustrated and don’t call in at all.

As I stated in the previous article and in this article, personnel in the field were first asked for their input regarding the efficiency/efficiency of the radio. The Bureau that was handling the radio system became inundated with complaints and instead of handling the complaints, began threatening employees with discipline for voicing their opinions.

While I was working with Metro, I myself did experience numerous problems and delinquent service regarding the implementation of the new radio system. For example, the motorcycle radio was still the old-style radio, and did not work well with the new radio system. Why did we have the old radio in our motorcycles? Because Harris and Metro did not have the foresight to realize that a radio was needed to work with our motor division. Our helicopters also did not have an updated radio due to a model wasn’t yet fabricated for the air units. 

After realizations that some of the pertinent units on the department did not have a compatible radio, several “experimental” radios were tested, in the field.  Our field, not Harris’ field.  Different versions showed up mounted in some of the Harleys. Not all the personnel had a say-so in the pick of the models they liked.

The officers in the field were frustrated with the lack of cooperation from the department reference this matter and were telling their family members that if they were injured or killed in the line of duty and the radio system had a part in their injuries or demise, the family members were to contact an attorney.

I have some ideas for the department to tally the amount of problems and complaints reference the radio system, maybe even resolve them:

1)    Officers, realizing their radios are not working, are having to use their personal cell phones while on duty, while engaged in police activity, maybe in a fight, possibly a gunfight or a pursuit, and since all police calls are recorded, the department should be able to answer several questions on the efficiency of the radio system. Dates, times, locations and situations will be documented.

2)    Briefings should be attended by a member of the upper administration, preferably someone of some intelligence and caring for members of the department, to gather comments from personnel who use the radio. The briefings should be an open forum and personnel attending should not be hand-picked by supervisors, but open to everyone. There should be an understanding that discipline will not be an option after hearing comments regarding the inefficiencies of the radio system.

3)    Risk Management will be notified of all documented comments and phone recordings from personnel using the radio.

4)    Attorneys for LVMPD will also be involved in this endeavor and should issue a statement addressed to the personnel and to the administration regarding a proper timeline to have the radio system up and functioning properly. They should also address concerns from personnel regarding the possible dangers of working and knowing that the radio system is faulty. They can also advise on legal action if/when an officer is injured or killed due to the ineffectiveness of the radio system.

5)    The department should hire an outside source to research and address the problems with the radio system.

6)    An internal, unbiased, unfettered investigation using an outside source to monitor the investigation should be conducted regarding the research, purchase, introduction, implementation and purchases to update the system. Criminal, procedural and civil violations should be a consideration.

7)    A partial or possible total refund of the purchase price of the radio system should also be considered.

I googled “Harris radio complaints” and within 3 minutes, was able to locate five articles regarding complaints about Harris radio in their systems. I'm sure if I spent more time I could have found more. The links are listed below.

Daily Herald  Palm Beach Post  Las Vegas Badger  Griffin Daily News Las Vegas RJ

If LVMPD administration is truly concerned about their personnel and the citizenry of Las Vegas/Clark County, I'm sure pressure applied to the right junctions could get some positive results.

Oh, if the administration chooses to attend the briefings and listen to complaints, the common phrase “you’re lucky to have a job” should not be one of the phrases they use. 

I don't think anybody won a raffle to get their job.

Metro "Speak and Spell" radio, "can you hear me now"!

Speak and Spell radio system for the police?

The local newspaper had an article on the wonderful “new” radio system that LVMPD is using for patrol functions (lvrj story here) and the corresponding comments from the officers that use them and the administration that doesn’t.

The patrol officers have named the system “Speak and Spell”, relating to a popular child’s educational toy due to the same sound quality (which was supposed to improve as the system came online...... wrong!).

Of course, the administration has “toned” down the problems with the system using words such as “bugs, dead zones and other issues”.

Realistically, the descriptors should be crap, crap and more expensive crap.

The system has been in use, in bits and pieces at first, for over a year and the department realized that the new system wasn’t compatible with the old equipment when the “on” button was pushed.

So, the first excuse was “the new radio system is having difficulty with the old technology”, so millions more was spent to make the systems compatible. Yes, you heard that right, MILLIONS. Thankfully Metro is doing its best to save you, the taxpayer, money, huh?

So in order to test the new system, Metro tried using the new system in one part of town but not the other.  When an officer, who was using the old system, crossed over that boundary into the “testing” area, they were unable to communicate with the officers in that area.

When officers complained that the radios simply didn’t work properly, the complaints were boomeranged back into their faces.  They were told that the officers were not using the radios properly.  And who best to make that judgment, right? The officers that constantly use the system as part of their job description, or an administrator who is afraid of looking like an idiot for buying the wrong equipment? They were actually told that if the radios were not transmitting, that the officer was standing in a “dead zone” and they should move.

So, if an officer was engaged in a gun fight, fist fight or attempting to dodge a vehicle that is trying to run them over, they have to call “time out” and find an area that works?

Another tip that was thrown out was that officers needed to report the “dead area” because it could be that the area casino security may be using a radio system that may have a radio frequency very close to Metro’s and they may have “tweaked” the frequency to interfere with Metro’s radio.

Sounds like someone didn’t do their homework.

The Metro helicopter, a VERY essential piece of police equipment, didn’t have a working radio for months, simply because there was not one made yet for the helicopter (Homework?).

I actually heard radio traffic between the helicopter, which was hovering over several burglary suspects and was trying to relay the info to ground units that were ON scene and guess what? They couldn’t communicate because the helicopter had the old radio and the ground units had the new radios.  I could hear the frustration in the pilot’s voice because the suspects were so close to the patrol officers and their vehicles and he was unable to tell them.  Fortunately, the suspects were unarmed and subsequently caught.  Later radio traffic from the ground units to the helicopter stated that they were completely unable to comprehend any of his radio transmissions.

Oh, the reason I could hear the air unit’s transmissions was because my police motorcycle still had the old radio in it due to lack of HOMEWORK on someone’s part.  They hadn’t made one yet that would fit on the motorcycle.

Fellow officers have told me that they were involved in fights, shots fired, trying to call out high priority situations, etc. and unable to transmit on the radio. 

Officers were also threatened with discipline if they complained about the problems with the radios, so I was pleased to see the RJ’s article, however lacking in some details.

Now that LVMPD has spent tens of millions of dollars on this inefficient radio system (proven by other agencies experience with the same company/system. Read the RJ article), you would think that they would put someone in charge that had knowledge of this type of technology.  Nope.  Captain Barker was placed in charge from the detention center.  Yes, the jail.  His only experience is the “walkie-talkie” system in the jail, not a multi-million dollar, county wide, multi-jurisdictional capable system.

Good thing LVMPD isn’t graded for their homework…