USCP Begins Operating on New Radio System

Blog Editor Note: Here is the latest radio info on this system courtesy of Alan Henney and the Capitol Hill Monitors.

 

US Capitol Police TRS

Project 25 Phase 1 (Encrypted), Sys ID: 582, WACN: BEE00

Frequencies: 169.5750 169.8375 170.1375 170.3750 170.5750 171.0000 171.4125 171.7875 172.3875 172.6875 172.9625 173.1625 173.4750 173.8125 MHz

Press release below courtesy of Alan Henney and the Scan-DC group.

 

The ability to communicate via radio is one of the most critical tools a law enforcement officer can have at their disposal.  We are pleased to announce that on February 26, 2014, the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) fully migrated to a new radio system—an encrypted, 14-channel, digital trunked P25 radio system.  This critical life safety tool provides our officers with significant improvements that enhance our ability to perform our law enforcement mission. 

The new system offers greater interior and exterior coverage, more capacity, improved voice quality, greater interoperability, and greater network redundancy within the system.  This modernized and upgraded radio system is future-ready.  The new radios that the USCP are using on this system are the latest technology and are designed for continued state-of-the-art upgrades.

Chief Kim C. Dine says, “the safety of our sworn and civilian personnel is of the highest priority and we would like to thank the Members of Congress for providing this state-of-the-art critical life and safety tool for our agency.  This day marked a significant milestone for the USCP.”

Successful implementation of this new radio system involved partnerships with numerous entities and the USCP would like to thank our partners whose collaboration made this milestone possible.  The men and women of the Department are especially grateful for the support provided by the Congress, Congressional leadership, the leadership of the Appropriations and Oversight Committees, as well as their professional staffs, and the Capitol Police Board.  We are particularly thankful for their support in receiving funding, assistance, and supportive oversight of this critical life safety tool and the radio modernization program as a whole.

Additionally, the Department is grateful for our partnership with the Architect of the Capitol and Naval Air Systems Command in designing, implementing and executing this complex state-of-the-art digital and encrypted radio system.  Furthermore, we are grateful for the oversight and partnership of the Government Accountability Office during this transformational effort.  Their participation assisted the Department in both the technical and program management areas.

It is estimated that the shutdown of the old analog system will occur in approximately thirty days.  Over the next thirty days, we will employ several strategies to continue the smooth transition to a digital environment and ensure employee comfort and familiarity with their equipment while adapting to a digital radio system.  During the next thirty days, the USCP will continue to employ post-migration optimization measures meant to fine-tune the system while it is in use.

The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) is comprised of over 2,000 sworn and civilian employees. 

The USCP is the sole federal law enforcement agency in the Legislative Branch of government whose mission it is to protect the Congress, its legislative processes, Members, employees, visitors, and facilities from crime, disruption, or terrorism.  They protect and secure Congress so it can fulfill its constitutional responsibilities in a safe and open environment.

Las Vegas police dump problem radio system

By Mike Blasky AND Brian Haynes LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

It was a multimillion-dollar mistake. And the timing couldn't be worse.

After two years of battling dropped calls and dead zones in the department's new radio system, Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie has opted to drop Desert Sky.

On Oct. 11, Gillespie informed the CEO of the Harris Corp. that his company's Desert Sky radio system cannot meet his department's needs. That's a sharp change from past statements and advice to officers to remain patient while system bugs are fixed.

"I believe we've given Harris every opportunity to make the system work," Gillespie said. "It's just not a reliable system."

Unveiled in the summer of 2010, the $42 million Desert Sky digital system - based on Harris' OpenSky system marketed to emergency service agencies nationwide - was touted as having expanded channel capacities, enabling advanced data communications for computers in patrol cars and other features unavailable with the agency's aging analog system.

Desert Sky's data capabilities have seen mixed results, but the voice communication between officers is the bigger problem. While improved in the past two years, the system still is not up to snuff for an agency whose officers talk on the radio 50,000 times every day, the sheriff said.

"OpenSky cannot meet that demand," Gillespie said.

Complaints are common among patrol cops, who say the faulty system endangers their lives.

"It's honestly going to get an officer hurt," said one patrol officer who asked not to be identified. "It's just a matter of time. We're worried about getting into a situation where we need help and no one can hear us."

LAWSUIT POSSIBLE

The decision to dump Desert Sky comes in the midst of the Metropolitan Police Department's worst budget crisis ever. The county wide agency's projected budget of $502 million for fiscal year 2013-14 is $46 million more than projected revenues.

Police officials say hiring a vendor to build a replacement voice transmission system could cost $15 million to $20 million, and take 16 to 24 months.

Assistant Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, who oversees the Las Vegas police Radio Systems Bureau, acknowledged the project could "require additional funds" at a time when the department is counting every penny.

"We're in discussions with Harris for a solution," Lombardo said. "It depends if they can meet our terms or not. If we come to impasse, we could explore other vendors."

The relationship between Harris and the department is not dead, however. The department will retain Desert Sky for data transmission, but needs a new system to handle day-to-day voice communication.

Harris might even be the company entrusted with that job. While it struck out with Desert Sky, Harris could build the infrastructure for the state-of-the art Project 25 - or P25 - radio system that has become the new federal standard for public safety agencies. P25 has proven to be effective in major urban settings, whereas OpenSky has not.

Gillespie wouldn't comment on companies that might build the new system, but said a decision would be made within 30 days. The potential cost is "under discussion," he said, as is the source of the money.

If Harris won't build a new voice system at no additional cost, the department would likely hire another vendor - Motorola is a primary competitor of Harris - and cover that bill by suing Harris for failing to build Desert Sky to contract specifications.

A Harris spokesperson did not return a call seeking comment Friday. The status of discussions between the department and Harris was unclear.

"Our desire is to not spend another dime on (Desert Sky). We're still pursuing that direction," Lombardo said. "There's still a lot of negotiation questions that have not been answered yet."

'IT'S BEEN A FAILURE, A JOKE'

The department began looking at updating its radio system around 2003, as its analog system was nearing maximum capacity and the agency was expanding along with Southern Nevada's population.

The department contracted with M/A-COM Technology Solutions Inc. to design and build its new system, OpenSky. Harris Corp., a Florida-based corporation billed as the leading supplier of radios to the U.S. military, acquired M/A-COM in 2009.

Many other public safety agencies around the country bought OpenSky, and many have been left disappointed with systems dogged by performance and reliability problems.

In early 2009, the state of New York cited technology problems when it terminated a $2 billion contract with M/A-COM to build a statewide communications system.

Lancaster County, Pa., dumped its OpenSky contract in 2008 after spending about 11 years and $14 million on the project.

"It was the cutting edge of a technology," Lombardo said. "It hasn't been a resounding success."

Patrol officers don't mince their words when it comes to the technology.

"It's been a failure. A joke," said the patrol officer who asked for anonymity.

The officer told of a police shooting last year where the officers were caught in a dead zone and unable to radio for help.

"(The officers) tried like hell," he said.

In addition to dead zones and dropped calls, officers are also struggling to adapt to the new emergency button.

The radios have an emergency button that will override other radio traffic, but it hasn't always worked right and requires cops to learn when and how to use it.

"When you're in a situation and your adrenaline's flowing and you've got tunnel vision, everything you do is muscle memory. And officers weren't trained to use the emergency button," he said. "Some of us have gotten better, but it's not perfect."

Lombardo said officer safety is the department's top priority.

"That's why we're pursuing all our options, because that's as big a concern to us as it is to the police officers," he said. "The technology just hasn't gotten us to where we need to be, Harris has been assuring us they can get us there. But a lot of time has gone by."

 

From Dave Zantow, N9EWO:

This is the same radio system that Milwaukee WI has been struggling with for years. So the plan for Las Vegas is to now switch to P25 (from Open Sky) and MANY more taxpayer $$’s.

 

Tennessee turns to Motorola for P25 system

Three districts of the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) will replace its existing legacy radio network with a multiband P25 system from Motorola Solutions in the first phase of a communications upgrade that will cost $39.2 million, according to an announcement this week according to the Urgent Communications website.

Under the terms of the contract, Motorola Solutions will build a P25 hybrid system, with 700/800 MHz spectrum being used in metropolitan areas and VHF frequencies being used in more rural areas, said Jay Malpass, strategic projects manager for Motorola Solutions. With this in mind, the state plans to purchase multiband APX portable and mobile radios for its personnel and vehicle fleet, he said.

Phase I of the project will address upgrades in the Chattanooga, Fall Branch and Knoxville districts and is expected to be completed next year, Malpass said. State officials hope to solicit funding next year for the buildout of P25 technology in the other five districts in the state, he said.

You can read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Georgia county starts P25 system deployment with Harris

Floyd County, Ga., recently conducted a groundbreaking ceremony on a new 10-site, 800 MHz P25 radio system built by Harris that will replace a legacy conventional system, according to a county official.

Located 60 miles north of Atlanta, Floyd County has a population of 96,000 and covers 518 square miles. The county currently uses a single-site conventional network, with various public-safety departments operating on disparate UHF and VHF bands — a system with flaws that were highlighted during a 2008 tornado, according to Scotty Hancock, Floyd County’s emergency management agency director.

By transitioning to a new P25 system that also will support public-safety departments in the cities of Rome and Cave Spring, Floyd County will avoid paying millions of dollars to narrowband its existing system, improve internal and external interoperability, and improve radio coverage and reliability, Hancock said.

You can read the rest of the story online at the Urgent Communications website by clicking here.

NOLA Area Finally Achieves PS Interoperability

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, I wrote an editorial in Monitoring Times magazine critical of public safety radio system interoperability in the Gulf Coast region. New Orleans, Slidell, and Biloxi/Gulfport/Harrison County were all using the M/A-COM ProVoice EDACS trunk systems and it was only a matter of time before this choice was going to cause a crisis.

First, let me clear the air. I am not against M/A-COM or its trunk systems per se. I am deeply concerned about using a non-standard digital protocol such as Open Sky and ProVoice. If public safety agencies want to use a M/A-COM trunk system -fine, do it! Just don't use one of the proprietary digital protocols.

The M/A-COM Provoice digital standard is not compatible with the APCO P25 digital standard which FEMA, DoD, US federal government agencies, the State of Louisiana and other parish public safety agencies in the Katrina disaster area use. When the system failed in New Orleans it caused major problems for the first responders of the city. They had to resort to 800 MHz Mutual Aid simplex channels, and car to car relay of radio traffic in order to communicate.

New Orleans, Slidell, and PS agencies in Harrison County, MS were all on my P25 Hall of Shame List (shame on them for using a system which is NOT interoperable). You can see these editorials on the Monitoring Times website.

Incorporating lessons learned in the chaotic aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, law enforcement agencies in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes can now communicate with each other using one radio system. On Monday (February 5), the parishes brought online a shared 700-megahertz digital radio system paid for with federal disaster funds and grant money from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

You can read the complete Times Picayune story on this event online at:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-19/116962458198400.xml&coll=1

There were a lot of lessons learned from the Katrina disaster. But this is one that every Public Safety Agency in this country using a non-P25 digital standard should read and heed. From the Picayune article I quote, "The coordinated system also means that if out-of-state first responders come in as they did after Katrina to aid the locals, they'll be able to communicate as well with a bit of reprogramming of their own equipment."

Unfortunately, there are still major problems on the Gulf Coast. Harrison County, MS (including Biloxi and Gulfport) continue to use their ProVoice system even though most all of their neighbors and a new statewide system will be P25 compatible. This is exactly the same scenario that caused major problems in New Orleans. Hancock County, the county just west of Harrison on the Louisiana border has now installed a new P25 trunk system. Jackson County, the other Gulf Coast county just east of Harrison, is using a mixed mode (analog/P25) trunk system. Hey, Harrison County do you think it is time to wake up! I think it is time for the federal government to NOT sink one more dime of taxpayer money in that county until they become interoperable with the rest of the area.

In the state capital of Mississippi - Jackson, the original plan to upgrade to a ProVoice digital system by M/A-Com has been scrapped after issues were raised by the Hinds County E-911 Commission regarding legal concerns. Plans have now been made to switch Jackson over to the Hinds County Motorola ASTRO System. This will enable true interoperability between Jackson, and the surrounding area. At least someone in Mississippi is using some common sense. Are you listening Harrison County?

The new Mississippi statewide system, known as MWIN, will be a Motorola P-25 700 MHz trunk radio system. This system will be used by ALL state of Mississippi public safety agencies, with county and municipality subscription possible. MWIN will be tied in to the MEMA and Fish & Wildlife satellite radio nets for interoperability.

But Harrsion County, Mississippi, is only a small drop in the non-interop bucket. Another shocking interop issue is found in the state of Florida. And in this case it isn't a county issue, but it is a statewide law enforcement trunk radio system, known as SLERS, that was bought, installed and operated by the state of Florida. Yep, they are using the same system that New Orleans used that caused such a problem during Katrina - a M/A-COM ProVoice trunk system.

Imagine a hurricane hitting Florida and the state law enforcement agencies not being able to talk to any of the feds unless they give the feds a radio to use on their non-interop radio system. Same applies to all the county and municipal agencies who aren't on this system which is 99% of the state's PS agencies. There needs to be some serious questions asked about public safety by the taxpayers of Florida and the media.

But Florida is not alone. In future missives on this blog, I will uncover other shocking agencies that are either using non-standard digital protocols and have plans in the works. When will this government officials learn the hard lessons of New orleans and Katrina?