County Cautiously Resumes Police Radio Installation

Despite concerns from some police officers, county officials tentatively agreed Thursday to resume expansion of an $80 million emergency radio system that has been on hold after network failures in Irvine and Tustin.

But officials stressed that the decision will become effective only if technical reports show improvements in solving the radio problems and if police chiefs in Irvine and Tustin approve.

The decision came even though some officers expressed worry that continuing failures with the system are jeopardizing their safety.

Officers have complained that the new radios sometimes fail to pick up calls from dispatchers, produce garbled messages, drain the batteries in motorcycles and don’t work well inside some major buildings.

Irvine officers told a county committee overseeing the project that they remain unsatisfied with recent improvements and that most officers lack confidence in the new radios.

“We’re taking baby steps as far as getting better is concerned,” said Officer Jeff van der Sluys Veer, director of the Irvine Police Assn. Some officers are so concerned that they are communicating with each other using cell phones, he said.

But county officials contend that the number of complaints about the radios has dropped in recent weeks as Motorola technicians worked to fix the problems. In the last nine days, the number of daily complaints has fallen from 21 to about six, they said.

Some officers counter that out of frustration they and colleagues have simply stopped complaining about the problems.

County officials said tests show that the portable radios now work better inside buildings and that Motorola, the system’s manufacturer, is close to solving problems with radios mounted on motorcycles.

If quality reports due next week prove favorable, officials from the county and Motorola will start adding other police agencies to the system as soon as next month, beginning with Anaheim.

Allan L. Roeder, chairman of the county oversight committee, said he remains concerned that officers might not be reporting problems but hopes that police chiefs in Irvine and Tustin can help answer that question. Successfully adding other agencies to the system, he added, may boost confidence in the new radios.

“If it goes smoothly [in Anaheim], I think it will have a positive effect on officers in Irvine and Tustin that this is the system they need in the field,” he said.