POLICE RADIO SYSTEM WILL DEBUT IN STATE

Technology To Help Different Law Agencies Communicate In Field

Thursday, August 15, 2002 - A cutting-edge radio system to be unveiled next
week in Colorado will make communication problems at emergencies such as
the Columbine High School slayings and the World Trade Center terrorist
attack a thing of the past.

White House drug czar John Walters and Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse
Campbell, along with top law enforcement officials, will announce a
national rollout of the system, which will fix a long-running radio
compatibility problem among law enforcement authorities.

"Drug- and other law-enforcement operations can be seriously compromised by
the prevailing reality that in most areas of America today, local police
cannot communicate by radio with state police, the FBI, DEA, Customs and
the National Guard," Walters said.

Now, numerous radios are carried by local police working in the field with
other local, federal and state agencies so everyone can communicate with
one another. In some operations, it means agents have to juggle five or six
radios.

"This is cumbersome during planned operations, and impossible in . . .
emergency situations," Walters said.

That's what happened at Columbine High School in 1999, when two gunmen
opened fire at the Jefferson County school, killing 12 students and a
teacher before taking their own lives. Police, fire and emergency personnel
who arrived at the scene were not able to communicate directly with one
another, hindering response efforts and adding to the chaos that day.

At the World Trade Center, there also was a breakdown of communications
among police, fire and rescue teams.

Using the new "Wireless Communications Interoperability System" developed
by the U.S. Navy, a central dispatcher will be able to put numerous
agencies using different radios in contact with the click of a computer mouse.

So an undercover agent from the Denver Police Department working with three
different agencies will have to carry only one radio to communicate with
the others.

The system is being tested in Douglas County and in Maryland, said Jennifer
De Vallance, a spokeswoman with Walters' office.

An adapter for cellphones will also allow officers not carrying a radio to
use their cellphones to hook into radio traffic, said De Vallance.

Tuesday's official unveiling of the system will be held at the Douglas
County Events Center in Castle Rock.

"I'm looking forward to hosting Director Walters next week, and we will let
Colorado's public safety agencies know what kind of technology is coming
their way," Campbell said. "Colorado will be a national model."

Six Colorado cities - Colorado Springs, Durango, Fort Collins, Grand
Junction, Pueblo and Steamboat Springs - will be fitted for the new system
initially, and the rest of the state will follow.

After the communication problems at Columbine, Campbell led efforts to find
a solution locally. Last year, he helped secure $2 million in federal
funding to spur development of the system here.

There are more than 18,500 police agencies nationwide, but the White House
Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center plans to bear the cost to
implement the system throughout the country if it is successful in Colorado.