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…
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