‘Can You Hear Me Now?’

“Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?” Like someone on a cell phone trying to keep a connection, frustrated Los Angeles police officers now repeatedly ask these questions when their new digital radios fall silent because more than one officer is trying to talk at the same time. Whatever the cause, this problem should be resolved quickly before any breakdown in communications, no matter how brief or rare, allows a tragedy to happen.

Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks says training will help officers become accustomed to the new radios. Two officers couldn’t speak simultaneously on the old radios without breaking up or blocking out most words, but the sputtering signaled that the analog radios remained on. When the Motorola digital radios go quiet some cops think, “My radio’s not working.” No patrol officer needs that kind of uncertainty.

Communication with LAPD helicopters also is a problem. Motorola does not even manufacture a digital radio system for helicopters. The department knew that and turned to a company that specializes in aviation technology, but it will be one or two more months before the equipment arrives. Meanwhile, helicopter pilots rely on a jury-rigged Motorola system.

As for the handheld radios, which are also used in squad cars, Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick wants to see reassurance in writing from the LAPD before she cuts a check for $18,000 owed to Motorola. That is a tiny fraction of the $51-million contract for the system, but her stance sends a message to Motorola and all other companies that do business with the city: Get it right and without delay or wait for your money.

Chick’s demand also puts the LAPD management on notice. She asks what is taking so long to implement projects paid for by Proposition M, a $235-million bond issue that voters approved in 1992 to provide adequate and reliable emergency radio and 911 telephone communications. During her tenure as chair of the Los Angeles City Council’s Public Safety Committee, Chick heard plenty about problems, glitches and delays on the 911 upgrade and installation of new message display terminals in squad cars.

The LAPD isn’t the only major department with radio problems. In May, the Orange County Grand Jury said that a new police radio system, also made by Motorola, posed a threat to public safety because of faulty transmissions and would cost millions to fix. The grand jurors blamed county government, saying it had failed to provide adequate training to officers and to test the system beforehand and had made decisions that reduced radio coverage.

We hope that the LAPD will not suffer lingering problems of this nature. Immediate radio communication is essential. No cop should have to ask another, “Can you hear me now?”