Antiquated WSP radio system undergoing overhaul July 9, 2000, 02:00 PM
OLYMPIA - The Washington State Patrol's antiquated radio system is undergoing a long-awaited overhaul this summer.
But some troopers wonder whether the upgrade will help. And many note that it took a $100 fine from the state Department of Labor and Industries -- the agency cited "serious" safety concerns -- to get the problem addressed.
Patrol leaders say they've been working on the problem for years. This year's $1.4 million upgrade is only part of a longterm solution that could cost taxpayers $160 million over the next 10 years.
The issue provoked a sometimes bitter dispute between patrol management and the troopers union and L&I investigators.
"I have never seen such an effort to keep us out of a workplace," said former L&I inspector John A. Lenfesty, now with a communications company in Tacoma.
The L&I citation said the patrol had done a poor job of handling the problem. It added that almost all other Western states surveyed had better radio systems.
With the ideal system, a trooper's call for help would come through loud and clear to a dispatcher miles away.
But Washington's rough terrain blocks the weak radio signal transmitted by low-power portable radios.
Repeater towers on high ground can help boost the signal. But they have limitations, and can be blocked by a tunnel or a more powerful radio operating nearby.
Plus troopers often must communicate over long distances, which increases the odds they won't be heard.
"The best you can hope for with a communication system is one that will provide 95 percent coverage 95 percent of the time," says Brent Beden, manager of King County's radio communications services. "There is no system that can eliminate all the dead spots."
While no one at the patrol links any deaths to poor radio communications, many troopers tell horror stories about failed efforts to call for help in crises.
And they note that other states with mountains -- California and Oregon, for example -- have made huge strides in eliminating dead zones.
Oregon's troopers still have problems getting through, particularly in parts of Eastern Oregon and along the coastal mountains.
But in the past 10 years, management has brought in more repeater towers and new radios, and significantly upgraded dispatch centers for a "vast improvement" in the system, said Ron Anderson, vice president of the Oregon State Police Officers' Association.
California overhauled its system in the late 1990s.
"Our radio is so clear that it's just like talking on the telephone," said Mark Muscardini, president of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.
Part of Washington's solution includes installing "mobile repeaters" in all 730 agency cars across the state by year's end.
When the portable radio system is transmitted to the repeater, it is relayed at 100-watt strength. The more powerful signal then is re-broadcast to a repeater tower or directly to a dispatcher.
The mobile repeaters -- paid for with $1.4 million allocated during the the 1999 legislative session -- are being tested now, and results are very encouraging, said Capt. Eric Robertson, a patrol spokesman in Olympia.
But bringing Washington's system up to California's standard will take some doing.
The patrol's 10-year plan involves replacing the existing analog communications system with cutting-edge digital equipment, which provides a clearer radio reception and enables dispatchers to track a trooper's location. Digital transmissions also can't be heard by civilians listening in on a standard police scanner, experts say.
The plan will cost many millions of dollars, and it's not clear where the money will come from.
"If the problems are such that the radios don't work, then we have to look at this very seriously, but we don't print money in the basement, and we try to make (the State Patrol) live within their budget," said Rep. Ruth Fisher (D-Tacoma), co-chairman of the House Transportation Committee.
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