[Scan-DC] New police radio inaccessible to public

[Alan Henney]

St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

March 16, 2010 Tuesday

Milwaukee / New police radio inaccessible to public

BYLINE: By Ryan Haggerty Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

SECTION: WISCONSIN; Crime and Court Stories

LENGTH: 807 words

Alex Gregory's violent rampage last month lasted nearly eight hours, beginning about 4 p.m. when he fired shots outside a day care center on Milwaukee's north side and ending when he shot himself in the head as police tried to arrest him.

Before he killed himself, Gregory kidnapped his girlfriend and their two children and drove to various locations on the north side. He shot at his girlfriend when she escaped, and he later shot her sister, leaving her in critical condition. 

Even though police were searching for Gregory for much of the night, news of his activities weren't reported by local media until about 11 a.m. the next day, after a police spokesman briefed reporters.

The delay in coverage was due in large part to the Milwaukee Police Department's new digital radio system, which cost more than $17 million, has been plagued with problems and cannot be monitored by radio scanners.

Local media outlets, including the Journal Sentinel, have used scanners for years to learn about breaking news in Milwaukee, such as shootings, stabbings and serious traffic crashes. Some residents also used scanners to keep tabs on police activities.

The department's digital radio system, known as OpenSky, became fully operational in early February, replacing the department's analog system and leaving scanner listeners in the dark. Milwaukee police have no plans to make their broadcasts available to the public again, primarily because of concerns about officer safety, department spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said.

"It's about public access to hear where officers are located and where officers are going to respond to calls," Schwartz said. "I can't tell you how many times we've gone in gang houses or drug houses and found scanners. In post-9/11 law enforcement, we have had to take a hard look at the access that we are allowing the public to our information."

The public also will not be able to pick up Milwaukee Fire Department broadcasts when the department completes its switch to OpenSky, a department spokeswoman said.

The elimination of the public's ability to monitor police broadcasts comes as media outlets highlight the state's open records laws during Sunshine Week, a national effort by the American Society of News Editors and others to promote the public's right to know.

Lori Waldon, news director at WISN-TV in Milwaukee, said prohibiting residents and the media from listening to police broadcasts could affect the public's safety.

"I understand about police safety, but there's also public safety, too," Waldon said. "If (the police) are in an area where it's an active scene and people have guns, we are a way of getting the information out really fast. Police are saying, 'Stay in your house,' or police are saying, 'Avoid these streets.' If we aren't there and we don't know, then how are they getting the information out fast?" Waldon said her station confirms information gathered from police broadcasts before reporting it and always takes police safety into account when covering breaking news.

"If the police tell us, 'Don't fly the helicopter,' or 'Don't say where we are,' we don't," Waldon said. "We've always tried to be safe."

Residents who enjoy listening to scanners also are upset by the silence, said John Schneider, a Milwaukee resident who has four scanners on around the clock.

"I want to find out what's going on in the neighborhood, if someone just killed someone or robbed a bank," Schneider said. "You can keep an eye out for people or lock your doors. If I see a cop down the block with his gun out, I want to know if I'm safe."

Milwaukee police began the process of switching to the digital system in 2003 in an effort to comply with modified federal regulations regarding radio communications that take effect in 2013.

The regulations do not require law enforcement agencies to use a digital system, but many agencies are switching from analog to digital as digital radio technology develops, said Robert Kenny, speaking for the Federal Communications Commission.

Law enforcement agencies can choose whether their broadcasts are available for the public to monitor, he said.

Milwaukee police maintain a Web site that lists the department's recent calls for service. The site operates on a delay.

Michael Crivello, president of the Milwaukee Police Association, said the union is more concerned about the functionality and safety of the new radios than preventing the public from listening to officers' broadcasts.

"There are situations where we would need to control the radio access as far as different operations in the field," Crivello said. "But I don't know that that was an issue in the past because we had secure channels to do that on. The regular broadcasts, the dispatches that were put out before, is there a reason why you should not be able to get that now? I don't know what that reason would be."