HPD to switch off new radios during repairs
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Honolulu Police Department is suspending most use of its problem-plagued, $60 million digital radio system until a software problem is fixed.
• Early 1990s: Officials begin planning for digital radio upgrade; existing analog system is 15 years old. • 1993: City buys 800-megahertz digital radio system for nearly $20 million. • 1994: System is installed. (But four years of technical problems delay its launch until 1998.) • Early 1998: Gaps in radio coverage, combined with time required for hardware and software changes, force postponement of the full digital switchover. • March 1998: Police plan switch to a digital communications system "this spring" to boost coverage from analog's 65 percent of island to digital's 90-95 percent coverage. • June 1998: Eight districts switch to digital system as part of plan to put computers in patrol cars enabling officers to perform record checks on suspects and vehicles, check fingerprints and mug shots, and file reports without paper. Some 1,400 patrol cars switch over. • July 1998: Police suspend digital, use analog, after officers twice were unable to call for backup with their new hand-held radios. Some officers say voices sound like they were under water. • March 1999: Emergency system on portable radios fails when officers called for help while subduing a Kailua man. • January 2000: Defective computer board disrupts police communications islandwide for more than six hours. • November 2001: Police Department unveils computer-aided dispatching system providing officers quicker access to critical information, such as verifying auto ownership. • Feb. 28, 2002: City says new signal amplifiers should erase dead spots in digital radio system. • April 9, 2002: First full day use of all-digital communications system generates scattered complaints of garbled sound. • April 11, 2002: Mobile computing pilot program launched in the East Honolulu police district, enabling patrols there to receive some communications by computer instead of through radio voice transmissions. • April 17, 2002: Backlog of data from the mobile computing system interferes with the police digital radio system, preventing digital voice communications between some officers and dispatchers for about three hours. • June 26, 2002: Software glitch blocks communications between dispatchers and officers in "talk groups" for more than six hours. • Nov. 8, 2002: Portions of the Honolulu Police Department's new digital radio system shut down for eight hours; officers switch to old analog system.
Until then, most officers will use the old analog system. The switch back to analog will take place Dec. 2, but no one knows when the digital system will be put back in service.
New system has history of problems
The switch was announced in a department-wide memo dated Nov. 15, eight days after a faulty software upgrade shut down portions of the city's digital communications system for nearly nine hours.
It was the latest in a series of problems, including communication disruptions and gaps in radio coverage, that police have experienced since switching to the digital system in 1998. Officers say switching back to analog is a reasonable precaution to take until they are confident the upgraded digital system is reliable.
In the Nov. 15 memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Advertiser, Maj. Kenneth Simmons, commander of the department's communication division, wrote: "The switch is necessary until the digital software becomes acceptable for our operations."
Honolulu police spokeswoman Michelle Yu could not say yesterday how long patrol officers would use the analog radio channels. Officers will use the same equipment, but on different channels.
The department's specialized units, including those that do undercover work, will remain on digital radio channels for security reasons.
HPD Detective Alex Garcia, former chairman of the O'ahu chapter of the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers and a critic of the digital system, called the latest move "a step backward for us after pouring $60 million into this system."
Garcia said, "Our patrol is our front line and the radio is our lifeline, so we need a quality radio system first and foremost."
In calling for an independent audit of the communication system, he said the entire system should be thrown out.
"The police chief and HPD administration are doing the best they can with this system and nobody in the department wants to see public or officer safety jeopardized," Garcia said.
"But this product is simply a bad lemon. The department may as well pay $20 a month for a cellular phone plan."
SHOPO president Tenari Ma'afala said the digital system was purchased to create secure radio lines for police officers, and he hopes officers will not have to use the analog radio channels for long.
The city adopted the digital radio system to create better reception and more channels and to thwart eavesdropping by outsiders.
"Under analog, drug dealers could buy a cheap radio scanner and check up on us, so it becomes an officer safety issue as well," Ma'afala said. "Also, if analog is our backup plan, what happens when the backup goes down?"
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said technicians are upgrading the software of the city digital communications system. The work is what appears to have caused the glitch Nov. 7 from about 3 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. Because of the problem, radio communications for HPD District 1 (Central Honolulu), District 3 (Pearl City) and District 7 (East Honolulu) were switched to the backup analog radio channels.
Costa said the Nov. 7 glitch occurred because upgraded radio software was not reset properly. It did not affect officer safety or hamper police response time to emergencies, officials said.
"We support HPD on how they operate by going back to analog while we complete the digital software upgrade," Costa said of the planned HPD switchover. Costa said she could not say how long the software upgrade work will continue.
Lengthy glitches of the police radio system have also occurred in January, April and June, as well as in previous years.
In April, the department converted its communications system to all digital. Police had sought a complete digital switchover when the city acquired the system in 1998, but gaps in the radio coverage, along with time required for hardware and software changes, forced postponement.
The Honolulu Fire Department continues to communicate on analog, said department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada. The Fire Department has previously expressed concern about the reliability of the digital system.
Improving radio service among public safety agencies has become more urgent since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But some experts estimate that it could cost $25 billion or more to connect every agency in the United States that wants or needs the capability.
"Almost everyone has some problems. It's just a matter of to what degree," says Harlin McEwen, a retired police chief who handles telecommunications issues for the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Kimo Smith, chairman of SHOPO's O'ahu chapter, said he is glad the city and police administration are taking action on the radios.
"It's always been a public safety and officer safety issue for us," Smith said. "To be fair, the system has been improved over the years, but it's taken a lot longer than we expected to resolve some of the problems."
Smith said he received numerous calls from officers working the shift when the radios went down this month.
"They were concerned and they have a right to be," Smith said. "We hope this upgrade resolves everything."
Smith said police have a backup plan in place in which officers can communicate with dispatchers and other officers through analog radio channels, computers in the police vehicles, and cellular phones.
Reach Scott Ishikawa at 525-8110 or sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Addition: This story contains information from USA Today.
