NCJ Number
192159
Journal
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 25 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2001 Pages: 14,16,18,20
Date Published
October 2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article identifies factors that have contributed to the deterioration of police communications and reviews the technologies that hold promise for more effective communications.
Abstract
Police agencies throughout the country complain that the inadequacies and failures of their communications systems have hampered their ability to perform their duties. This article provides some examples of such failures. One of the reasons for inadequate communications among and within police agencies is the increased demands being placed on the total radio spectrum (3,300 frequencies) by commercial providers involved in the lucrative market of cell phones and pagers. The FCC is working to increase spectrum availability. Among its efforts, the FCC is taking frequencies dedicated to television channels 60-69 and reallocating them for public and private use. Regional communications systems have been successful in some areas of the country and a failure in others. The San Diego Regional Communications Center successfully dispatched 170 agencies from a single location. Similar communications partnerships are developing in Utah and Colorado. An admittedly interim solution to communications problems is a "patch," like the Border Tactical Communications System in San Diego. The dispatcher at the central location uses a mouse to connect icons that represent the agencies on a computer screen. Voice transmissions come into the central location and are remodulated and transmitted in a voice format appropriate for the receiver's radio. Some believe the Internet may provide the ultimate solution for voice communications and data transmission, since the Internet is now sophisticated enough to transmit voice. In solving its communications problems, law enforcement agencies must be diligent in researching technologies and their application, careful in their expenditures, and suspicious of anyone who claims to have the perfect answer. 6 annotated resources