[WIham] MJS 3/15/10: Digital police radios black out public access
paul7288 at centurytel.net
paul7288 at centurytel.net
Wed Mar 17 07:48:34 EDT 2010
Hi Rick,
I read the info and ...what is the point/reason for this email?
Paul,WG0G
Quoting Rick Kisséll <rick at kissell.org>:
> 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."
>
> http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/87731882.html
>
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