From the Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, January 20, 2000

Communication failure worries police officers in field

By Brandon Masuoka Advertiser Staff Writer

A defective computer board disrupted police communications islandwide for more than six hours Tuesday night, raising questions about the reliability of the $20 million communication system that has failed three times in as many years.

The police dispatch communications system assigns emergency calls to police officers across Oahu. Police officials said they did not know how many calls the station received during the time the radio system was not working. Ericsson representative Peter Fiorey said the communication problem at one time or the other affected each district.

It originally was reported that the radio system was out for just two hours Tuesday night. The faulty computer board was the latest problem police have encountered since switching to the $19.7 million Ericsson radio system in 1998. Other problems have included radio dead spots in remote areas and unresponsive emergency radio buttons on portable radios.

In 1998, the department tried digital communication but returned to 800 megahertz frequency when officers complained about dead spots and the sound quality of radio transmissions.

Radio technicians were called to the main police station on Beretania Street at 8 p.m. Tuesday when dispatchers reported they could hear field officers but couldnt radio them back.

While the troubleshooters fixed the system, dispatching was done from the individual stations. Officers could communicate with each other and their respective stations using their portable radios or their radios in their cars.

Troubleshooters fixed what appeared to be the problem, but at 10 p.m., problems began again. The problem was isolated at 1 a.m., and the system was back up and running at 2:15 a.m., more than six hours after it went down at 7:30 p.m.

Fiorey said replacing the computer board is quick, but finding the problem without further damaging the system took time. The last full maintenance of the communication system was in March, Fiorey said. As you can see, theres a lot of stuff on here to troubleshoot, said Fiorey holding up the computer board, which is the size of a serving tray.

Police officers in the field said they were concerned and frustrated by the problem. I can understand their concerns for being upset for the fact that we were not able to transmit to them from the central station to where they were at, acting Deputy Chief Robert Au said. However, we had other avenues. We did not compromise their safety, and they were able to use portable radios and their mobile radios.

Officials said communication at the Honolulu Fire Department, which is phasing in Ericsson equipment, was unaffected.

The faulty computer board and another board suspected to be faulty were sent to Ericsson headquarters in Lynchburg, Va., for post-mortem inspections.

Despite the problems, city officials said they were happy with Ericssons system.

Its performing to the specifications as it was designed, said Gary Yee, director of the citys Department of Design and Construction. Were happy with Ericsson and the way they have responded and have been working with us in the implementation and training.

Jerry Loo, also of the citys Department of Design and Construction, said the citys total Ericsson contract is about $23 million to $24 million. He said the city is planning to phase the system into more city departments that use portable radios or walkie-talkies.

Police officials said they did not know how many calls the station received during the time the radio system was not working. Ericsson representative Peter Fiorey said the communication problem at one time or the other affected each district.

It originally was reported that the radio system was out for just two hours Tuesday night. The faulty computer board was the latest problem police have encountered since switching to the $19.7 million Ericsson radio system in 1998. Other problems have included radio dead spots in remote areas and unresponsive emergency radio buttons on portable radios.

In 1998, the department tried digital communication but returned to 800 megahertz frequency when officers complained about dead spots and the sound quality of radio transmissions.

Radio technicians were called to the main police station on Beretania Street at 8 p.m. Tuesday when dispatchers reported they could hear field officers but couldnt radio them back.

While the troubleshooters fixed the system, dispatching was done from the individual stations. Officers could communicate with each other and their respective stations using their portable radios or their radios in their cars.

Troubleshooters fixed what appeared to be the problem, but at 10 p.m., problems began again. The problem was isolated at 1 a.m., and the system was back up and running at 2:15 a.m., more than six hours after it went down at 7:30 p.m.

Fiorey said replacing the computer board is quick, but finding the problem without further damaging the system took time. The last full maintenance of the communication system was in March, Fiorey said. As you can see, theres a lot of stuff on here to troubleshoot, said Fiorey holding up the computer board, which is the size of a serving tray.

Police officers in the field said they were concerned and frustrated by the problem.

I can understand their concerns for being upset for the fact that we were not able to transmit to them from the central station to where they were at, acting Deputy Chief Robert Au said. However, we had other avenues. We did not compromise their safety, and they were able to use portable radios and their mobile radios.

Link to Story:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/localnews4.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), January 20, 2000