Digital police radios black out public access
by Ryan Haggerty of the
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
3/15/10
Alex Gregory's violent rampage
last month lasted nearly eight hours, beginning when he fired shots
about 4 p.m. 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 the woman in
critical condition.
Even though
police were searching for Gregory for much of the night, news of the
outburst wasn't reported by local media until about 11 a.m. the next
day, after a police spokesman briefed reporters about the incident.
The delay in
coverage was due in large part to the fact that the Milwaukee Police
Department's new digital radio system, which has cost more than
$17 million and has been plagued with
problems, cannot be monitored by radio scanners.
Local media
outlets, including the Journal Sentinel, 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 (Channel 12), said prohibiting residents and the
media from listening to police broadcasts can 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 inside his home
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, Kenny 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."
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