New radios for Paterson cops

Tag : Communication Radios

PATERSON - Police officers may soon be able to talk directly totheir law enforcement counterparts in other towns by usinghand-held radios, thanks to an infusion of federal funds.
On Monday, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, announced $446,500in federal dollars to purchase up to 211 digital radios that willallow police officers to communicate with other agencies. The moneyis the latest step in upgrading communication technologies invarious Passaic County law enforcement and emergency responseagencies.
The push for improved communication between agencies came out of astudy of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which highlightedobstacles in relaying and receiving real-time assessments during acrisis. Pascrell, who sits on the House Committee on HomelandSecurity, said the technology can improve how police communicatewith each other during everyday situations.
Today, if a city patrolman is involved in a car chase and wants tocontact an officer in Fair Lawn, the chain of communication issometimes time-consuming and could lead to misrepresentation of keyinformation. That patrolman must first radio the dispatcher inPaterson, who then contacts the dispatcher in Fair Lawn, who relaysthe information to the Fair Lawn officer.
"It's like the [telephone] game you always played when youwere a little kid," said Detective Steve Olimpio, president ofthe Paterson branch of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.
Olimpio, who attended the announcement in front of the Frank X.Graves Public Safety Complex on Broadway, said the new radios willreduce the likelihood of passing incorrect descriptions of suspectsby cutting down on the number of people involved in thetransmission of information.
The Paterson Police Department has about 100 of these radios, as ithas updated its stock, but the additional federal money will helpwith continued technology upgrades, Police Director Michael Walkersaid.
Citing the 9/11 Commission Report, Pascrell said that during the2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., firstresponders were unable to properly communicate with each other.
The report "found that communication was so poor thatfirefighters and first responders could not communicate with eachother within the different parts of the World Trade Center,"Pascrell said.
With the new radios, Pascrell said, he hopes police officers willbe able to better fight a "tough criminal element" ofthose who sell drugs and join street gangs.
"I've always said the real homeland security starts on thestreets and that local police officers are our front line," headded.
This is the second time this year Pascrell returned to the 8thDistrict to announce increased federal funding for suchcommunication projects. In March, he announced the awarding of morethan $250,000 for the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office and itspush for a fiber-optic network among the county's law enforcementagencies.
E-mail: macinnes@northjersey.com.