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"Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 11:47 am
by vk6hgr
Page 16 of the West 2/2/10
"The Barnet Government has failed to deliver on an election promise to significantly upgrade the regional emergency radio network from its unreliable analogue system to digital, says the WA Police union"
According to the article, Mt Barker has dodgy coverage on the police network.
(I'd link to the article, but The West don't publish all their local stuff online...)
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 3:39 pm
by WPXZBP
Dodgy is an understatement from what I hear....
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 1:09 pm
by slipknot
What emergancy service are they refereing too?
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 1:11 pm
by vk6hgr
slipknot wrote:What emergancy service are they refereing too?
Police.
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:44 pm
by slipknot
vk6hgr wrote:slipknot wrote:What emergancy service are they refereing too?
Police.
ahh cheers Gav.
The police want more then what they already have huh? Sorry to anyone if i sound controversial but dosnt our tax payers money have more inmportant things to worry about at this point in time? if its about WERN well, thats a differnt story altogether....
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:47 pm
by vk6hgr
slipknot wrote:
The police want more then what they already have huh? Sorry to anyone if i sound controversial but dosnt our tax payers money have more inmportant things to worry about at this point in time? if its about WERN well, thats a differnt story altogether....
That's the frustration that governments face... all important projects are important, the hard part is figuring out which important project is most important.
It sounds like their radio system down there needs some solid investment - analogue or digital is a side issue.
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:59 am
by Zebedee
slipknot wrote:The police want more then what they already have huh? Sorry to anyone if i sound controversial but dosnt our tax payers money have more inmportant things to worry about at this point in time? if its about WERN well, thats a differnt story altogether....
I'm curious what could me more important than the safety of police when working (often alone) in remote parts of the state?
Think back to when a
routine traffic stop ended up with a police officer seriously injured and a suspect dead.
In the 21st century, reliable access to data is part and parcel of modern policing. The WA police has the honour of being the largest single police jurisdiction in the world - but that can also be a big problem for providing reliable communications to the remote parts of our state.
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:22 pm
by ConstableCare
A lot of it comes down to training too. Most of the HF gear is sitting in Country Police Stations gathering dust. Many 'dead spots' across the State could easily be overcome by using the right gear - HF or Sat Phone's. As I have siad previously, PAC have a dedicated Country / HF Op but they tend to sit there VERY lonely on most shifts...
Most Country Cars have the gear - most Country Police don't know how to use it!
CC
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:19 pm
by w0mbat
Sorry to ask, but what or who is PAC?
--Steve
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:37 pm
by ConstableCare
w0mbat wrote:Sorry to ask, but what or who is PAC?
--Steve
Police Assistance Centre (VKI)
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 2:38 pm
by yorky
ConstableCare wrote:w0mbat wrote:Sorry to ask, but what or who is PAC?
--Steve
Police Assistance Centre (VKI)
Wouldn't "VKI" come under POC (Police Operations Centre)? (Just wondering).
And personally Police are among the HIGHEST reasoning for working comms, they should always be at the top of the list for this sort of thing as THEY are the ones dealing with life and death situations (along with the other services).
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 2:52 pm
by ConstableCare
yorky wrote:ConstableCare wrote:w0mbat wrote:Sorry to ask, but what or who is PAC?
--Steve
Police Assistance Centre (VKI)
Wouldn't "VKI" come under POC (Police Operations Centre)? (Just wondering).
And personally Police are among the HIGHEST reasoning for working comms, they should always be at the top of the list for this sort of thing as THEY are the ones dealing with life and death situations (along with the other services).
Whatever you wanna call it - im not fussed. It's all in the same building...
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:18 pm
by singkenten
...in the same building as TEG and Forensics, at least 2 out of the 4 are good at their job....
Most of the areas with dead spots are also rarely 'policed' in the country but the sat phones are rubbish and usually only 1 car at a country station has HF, so at the moment if your going into a dead spot, whatever you do you just keep in the back of your mind that you may not have comms...
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:09 pm
by CHEV4EVR
.
Re: "Broken" radio network risks lives: Police union
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:56 pm
by ConstableCare
CHEV4EVR wrote:Before commenting on the wonders of HF radio/sat phones consider it in the context of a policing environment rather than general radio users. HF radio may work really well in the land of fairies and powder puffs where you have plenty of time to set your system up and establish comms whilst having a jolly cup of tea but what the union is getting at is that if the poo hits the fan you want to pick up that handset/portable and get that message through the first time with confidence. It is the reason digital radio exists in metro, encryption was just a bonus as we already had DVP capability. HF radios are not suitable for short burst urgent situations. Sat phones have only two parties that can listen therefore excluding all the cars nearby.
Yes POC do have a country booth but the reason they are quiet is that operations are run out of stations or regional centres. The country booth is only there for the worst case scenario and to ensure that POCCC has instant contact with the state if the need arises.
The issue the article raises is that the govt has recognised the problem and committed to fixing it but are now reneging. All the debate has been and gone. It would be a different story if they were just considering the situation but it has moved beyond that. Surely in this day and age police less than 300km from the state capital should be able to communicate effectively as a key govt priority.
All noted CHEV and I agree with your points however my post did refer somewhat to the training aspect. To have a copper turn around and say they have never been shown how to use the HF set is one of some concern. Furthermore the base stations gathering dust in regional areas is also a concern. Most of the OIC's have some knowledge but again the Mobile Phone tends to be relied upon far too much. HF is still used by some of the 'dinosaurs' out there but its few and far between.
The HF is a good system. I have used it and it is simple to use - contrary to what most people believe.
Anyway, yes an upgrade is needed - whether the expense of fully encrypted is warranted in these area's remains something for the 'bean counters' to work out.
CC