[ScanIndiana] Daily Journal, Johnson County, Indiana's Daily Online Newspaper | Greenwood police: New radios unreliable

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Greenwood police: New radios unreliable
By: BRYAN CORBIN<bR>Daily Journal news editor 
Article : 

<b>June 25, 2002</b>

Five months after a new countywide police radio system went on the air, the Greenwood Police Department has switched off its radios and resumed using its old equipment.

The reason: The new, $5.1 million system is so unreliable that Greenwood police officers and dispatchers often can�t hear each other or communicate over the radio.

Greenwood Police Chief Al Hessman described several incidents where officers in the field couldn�t hail dispatchers at the police station, dispatchers couldn�t hear the officers or the radio signal was garbled. The inability to communicate could be dangerous for officers and the public alike, he said.

Greenwood police Sgt. Steve Jackson recalled a car chase last month. All during the pursuit, Jackson radioed his position to his dispatcher. After the chase was over and the suspect apprehended, the dispatcher radioed back and asked Jackson if he was still in pursuit.

�They had heard not one word,� Jackson said. �If I had been fighting with someone or got into a gun battle, no one would�ve heard a word.�

Hessman expressed frustration after meeting several times with representatives of Motorola, the company that installed the digital radio system. The fixes Motorola has attempted so far have not corrected the problem, Hessman said.

�I�ve basically told Motorola, �We�re at a crossroads, folks. I don�t know how long I can ask my people to operate on a system that is not adequate,�� Hessman said. �I can�t continue to be a guinea pig for the system.�

The unified, countywide 800-MHz radio system began operating in January and links 12 police departments and six fire departments. It was intended to allow officers and firefighters from different agencies to radio each other directly, rather than having to relay messages through dispatchers. And it was to end the problem of police-radio signals from other counties interfering with Johnson County�s local radio traffic.

County taxpayers floated a $5.1 million bond issue to pay for the system and train officers and dispatchers to use it. The state covered part of the equipment costs. Johnson County became one of the first counties in Indiana to convert to a countywide system, which state officials eventually intend to be adopted statewide.

But Hessman said Greenwood police will not use the new system until the problems are corrected. Starting Saturday, Greenwood police resumed using their old analog police radios. They don�t have the same capability but at least can transmit a signal reliably, Hessman said.

The White River Township Fire Department has similar radio malfunctions. Fire Chief Mike Tibbetts said his firefighters should be able to transmit radio signals from inside a wood or brick single-family dwelling; but often they cannot.

�Our jobs are dangerous enough. We shouldn�t have to worry, �If I�m in an accident and get hurt, will they be able to hear me?�� Tibbetts said.

But Tibbetts doesn�t have the option of reverting back to the old analog radio system because the fire department sold its old radios to another department.

�I�m between a rock and a hard place,� Tibbetts said.

The Daily Journal left a message and page for the project manager of the Johnson County system, Dick Mitchell, but they were not returned Monday.

Greenwood officers � like all police and firefighters in the county � were broadcasting from portable 800-MHz radios. Their signals were received by one of two dispatching towers, in Franklin or Mooresville. The signal then was rebroadcast by T-1 lines to dispatchers at the Greenwood police station.

But like a cell phone that�s out of range, the Franklin and Mooresville dispatching towers are simply too distant from Greenwood and White River Township to reliably pick up and relay signals, Hessman and Tibbetts said.

�You need more towers so we can have a point to hit for our radios,� Tibbetts said. �You�ve got to have a line-of-sight for them.�

A 30-year veteran of the Indianapolis Fire Department, Tibbetts recalled that Marion County encountered similar snags when it converted from an analog to an 800-MHz dispatching system and had to add more radio towers, he said.

Options that Motorola gave Hessman are either building a new radio tower in White River Township or installing a simulcast system to boost the signal � both of which would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, the police chief said.

County Attorney Joe Pitcher, who oversaw the countywide radio project, also is concerned about the signal deterioration in Greenwood and White River Township.

Using a portable police radio, Pitcher tested the system Friday afternoon and couldn�t get through while driving at Library Park and State Road 135 in Greenwood.

�That, to me, was inexcusable,� Pitcher said. �It�s a major corridor; it needs radio service � and it�s not that far from Franklin.�

Pitcher said Motorola representatives are in Johnson County this week attempting to isolate the problem. Greenwood�s location in a fringe area outside the range of the two towers is a strong possibility, but Motorola employees want to eliminate other causes first, Pitcher said.

When Pitcher meets with the Motorola project manager Wednesday, he expects a final explanation for the problem and its solution, he said.

Until then, it isn�t known whether the county, the state or Motorola will bear the costs of any equipment upgrades.

�Motorola made certain guarantees,� Pitcher said. �Right now, we�re still ascertaining whether those guarantees were met.�

If a new tower in White River or Pleasant townships is needed to boost the signal, it might be piggybacked onto an existing tower, he said.

Some unspent funds remain in the county�s radio bond issue that could be tapped, Pitcher said.

Closer to the two transmitting towers, complaints are fewer.

The Bargersville Fire Department � located between the dispatch towers in Franklin and Mooresville � has not encountered communication gaps like Greenwood�s.

�We haven�t had any major problems to speak of,� said Mike Pruitt, spokesman for the fire department. �The ones we have had, we could adapt to.�

Hessman still supports the concept of a unified countywide radio system.

�The theory behind it is great. It is going to be a good system that offers a vast improvement over what we have been using,� Hessman said. �It will improve communication tenfold, if and when they get it right � but they are not getting it right.

�I can�t continue to expose my people and community to the risk this thing creates,� he said.