Posted on Wednesday, 10th March 2010 by Patrick Dorwin
Original posting, Mar 6, 2010
A month ago, the Milwaukee Police Department switched to the OpenSky radio system. This system has been controversial and plagued with problems everywhere it has been tried, and in some cases such as New York canceling a $1 billion contract, it was a total failure.
The Milwaukee Police Department has so far spent over $17 million on OpenSky, even though the original contract was supposed to be in the $3 million range and was to be completed years ago.
Our post on the switch one month ago elicited a large, and disturbing response. Even though the system was not preforming as needed for the safety of our officers, it was decided remove the long time analog radio system, leaving officers to rely on a radio that didn’t work when they needed it most.
In the past few weeks, we have also learned that the Milwaukee Fire Department is moving towards the OpenSky system, knowing full well the serious limitations of this system.
Now that we are a month out, have the problems with dead spots gotten any better? Have the bugs that were blamed on having both analog and OpenSky systems operating simultaneously, gotten better? Is it time to scrap this $17 million boondoggle and go back to the system that works?
Posted in Home, Open Sky Radios | Comments (30) |
30 Responses to “MPD & OpenSky — One month out, is it better?”
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March 7th, 2010 at 2:25 am
it is still terrible.
March 7th, 2010 at 11:28 am
No improvement noted in sound quality or less dead spots in the last 30 days.
March 8th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
nope it is still terrible, just as crimefighter08 said. the squad radio cuts in and out all the time. so we then go to our handhelds while in the squad, but only one of us will hear a transmission over the radio, while the other radio is silent. the dead spots are terrible while on foot or even in a place such as a hospital. the beeping telling me that i have no signal is annoying. also not having the ablility to key up over someone in an emergency so the dispatcher can hear us and clear the channel, is going to hurt someone. an example is i recently was in a foot chase, i tried to broadcast, but the dispatcher was talking. as i was running after the guy, he droppped a pistol and kept running. seeing as he dropped a pistol and i could not get the air, i stopped running after him. screw it, i am not going to get hurt or lose my life to this system.
March 8th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Where’s my cricket wav file….hello Milwaukee Media? You folks are the ones who have been on the outs during this switch….how ’bout some followup!
March 8th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Mayor Barrett & the other clowns at city hall better pray the problems are fixed before Brewers opening day and all the lakefront & downtown festivals start. Last year I heard a lot of complaints over the air from cops inside miller park who were using open sky radios.
Somebody might also want to ask Barrett if his security people are using the open sky radios, and why the City Hall patch is still up.
Remember taking the patches down were suppose to make everything work better.
March 8th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
“highrider,” thanks for your thoughts. I’m sorry we didn’t get to release them from moderation for a while, apparently you caught us all on a busy day in real life.
To quote an MPD friend of mine, from a conversation over this past weekend, this radio system “still completely sucks.”
What more can I say?
March 9th, 2010 at 1:29 am
We have shrinking fire crews and brown outs, but 17 million dollars wasted on a “new” system that doesn’t even work. Maybe someone down at city hall wants to go down in a basement with only one way in and out during a fire with a radio that suffers from “dead spots” and complete failures. Does a cop or firemen really need to lose their life before someone says “hey maybe this isn’t such a great idea” Where is the local police and fire unions to stand up and say this is a flat out bad idea? Or the local media for that matter. I’d be really interested in seeing who in the city past or present that’s benefited from this garbage deal.
March 9th, 2010 at 6:56 am
MILFD, I’m afraid someone will have to get hurt before anything is done, and you guys deserve much better than that. The media is occasionally prodded into a story, but swallow the official line without asking the guys in the trenches. You raise a good point about the unions, where are they? Shouldn’t they be looking out for the safety of their members? Weren’t the union big-shots once coppers & firefighters? Don’t they know better?
March 9th, 2010 at 10:05 am
In defense of the media, and certain people within it who’d really like to cover this story, no copper will go on record discussing the problems with this system. And MPD, even the union(s), are adopting the party line that “all is well, there’s nothing to see here.”
If an OpenSky radio falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
March 9th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
I find it incredible that the union leaders (MPA and/or the MPSO) wouldn’t speak out about this. Say what you will about Brad DeBraska, but he’d be shouting from the rooftops on behalf of his membership. As for the rank & file members, there’s no way anyone is going to jeopardize his job talking with the “trust me” media.
March 9th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
no copper will go on record discussing the problems with this system.
…and…
As for the rank & file members, there’s no way anyone is going to jeopardize his job talking with the “trust me” media.
C’mon, man! I can’t F****** believe this.
This is your LIFE on the line! This is your FAMILY and FRIENDS.
You gonna tell me none of you cops (or FFs) are gonna blow the whistle on this uber piece-of-shit comm system because you think your job might be in jeopardy?
What the F*** is more important?
Are you gonna wait till some other blue bites it? Hope it becomes “a major issue” then?
OK, maybe that’s outta line, but Jeezus F’ing Christ, re-read highrider’s tale until your eyes bleed. Then read it again. If THAT ain’t a call to arms, if THAT ain’t the biggest F’ing warning sign in history, I don’t know what would be.
Look, I, out here 55 miles away in cow county, don’t mean to tell ya’all how to conduct your biz. And what the f*** do I know about about copping anyway? Zilch. That’s what.
And I don’t know any of you MKE coppers and FFs by face or name, either. And you know what? I don’t want to. I don’t want to see your face or read your name in some after-the-fact news story about how you got cut down because your F****** $17 million radio failed.
How bloody F****** insane is that?
For God’s sake, if not for yourself, for the next guy. Please. Somebody say something.
Note to highrider: With your permission I’d like to copy and highlight your post in an e-mail to Mark Belling.
Note to Patrick: ditto this blog post.
I’ll do neither unless authorized.
March 10th, 2010 at 1:12 am
I really wish somebody in the media would ask Chief Flynn, why the officers can’t use the old UHF radios until all the opensky problems are fixed.
That has been bugging the heck out of me for a long time.
March 10th, 2010 at 5:20 am
http://badgerblogger.com/?p=15509#comments
nothing has gotten better. One thing that does bother me is in these memos that the chief is releasing, he keeps stating that the transition “is not optional” and there is a mandate to go digital. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think thats true. The mandate is to go narrowband, which can be analog OR digital. These radios are complete shit, and trust me there are PLENTY more stories of situations of where an officer needed the air, but was unable to get it due to the air being used, or the radio just plain deciding to not work, including an officer who opened fire on a suspect during a foot chase 4 days ago.
March 10th, 2010 at 8:19 am
MJM, you don’t need my permission, the reason I have been keeping this topic alive is to draw attention to the failures of OpenSky, hopefully before it hurts someone. The more people talking about this, the better.
Last night I talked to several people about it, including someone that works for the Scott Walker campaign. Maybe if someone, anyone can bring pressure on Barrett (because this is a city of Milwaukee issue, and he is the mayor), the city will scrap this system and go with one of the available radio systems that actually work…. They do exist, OpenSky is not the only one out there.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Yea, Patrick, this issue would be killer (no pun intended) for Walker.
But the thing is, this type of BS is WAY outside the bounds of mere political point scoring. Kudos if he highlights it, major heckles if it’s used for aspirational poli points. That’s why I thought of Belling. If he can be convinced of the severity of the situation he is the only one who would hammer the issue non stop… and he’s got a bigger and better targeted hammer than Walker.
@ crimefighter08:
I went back and read Flynn’s 2/10/10 memo. This is just.. just mind-boggling….
The current consoles were bought long before the radio system was field-tested
(in 2003) and have been a documented source for many of the radio problems reported by
our officers. The replacement value would have been nearly $3 million. That is a
remarkable concession. We are currently negotiating the terms of this offer and an
installation schedule.
Lessee, they installed UNTESTED equipment that HASN’T WORKED FOR SEVEN YEARS, and Flynn is high-fiving Harris Comm Inc and “negotiating the terms” of replacements?!?!??
Unbelievable. Just F****** unbelievable.
(I know I know, Flynn got this on the back side, but it sure doesn’t seem like he’s pushing hard for resolution. Too busy F’ing someone else’s wife, I guess)
March 10th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
MJM,
Believe it. Glenn knows better than anyone. It’s the union’s responsibility to lobby for the safety of its membership. I am told by one MPD insider that “everyone from command staff, to the coppers, to the union have all accepted that we are just saddled with this junk.”
I do know for a fact that there’s at least one Milwaukee alderman who appears to be taking a personal interest in this issue.
I also know that there are certain “real media” types watching this thread who have reached out to coppers in an attempt to find someone who’ll speak on the record.
No such luck.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Would that alderman be the Chairmen of the Safety Committee?
March 10th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Actually, that’s not the particular person I was referring to, but it’s possible your friend is interested, also.
March 10th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
crimefighter08,
You are correct,The mandate is to go narrow band.
Maybe the media can make calls to other departments and ask them about this.
Friend of mine sells radios, batteries etc to Fire & Police departments all over the country.
Here is what he said about the chief flynn memo.
“Wow, this is one whopper of a lie, Hard the read the rest after the first paragraph is a huge lie.
Another comment from somebody at a milwaukee county suburban dept.
“All of this mandate stuff is a myth”
“All the Feds said is that you must go to narrow band and if you wanted federal money
what ever you buy must be P25 capable”
They did not say you had to use P25 or any other digital protocol or trunking or encryption”
Scroll down to Q & A on this page.
http://www.apcointl.com/frequency/documents/NarrowbandOrder.html
March 10th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Bruce, if that’s the case, then what’s the problem? Why is anyone bitchin’ about it?
Let’s all just go on our merry way, because if those most affected don’t want do anything about it and don’t want to stand up for themselves and fellow badges, why the F*** should we care? Hell, I don’t live in the Shit Hole By The Lake so I don’t even have to gripe about paying for it!
And when it comes, I’ll just skip over the 2-column news blurb about the dead badge and turn to the comics.
Problem solved.
March 11th, 2010 at 9:06 am
These so-called journalists didn’t seem to have any problems going into tabloid journalism mode with virtually no independent investigation or corroboration from the people who knew better when a black female reporter with a racist agenda stuck microphones and cameras into the faces of select people from Metcalfe Park and pimped them into saying exactly what she and a few other racists wanted them to say 6 years ago. Yet they now claim they can’t do followup on this story without having some copper throw himself and his family on the hand grenade. As for your concerns about cops not standing up for themselves MjM, there are Department Rules which can be used against cops when they speak out and give the appearance that they are speaking as representatives of the Department. This is why their union leaders should be doing so. The union boards are insulated from the Department Rules I am alluding to and should be doing the job of representing their membership at least as well as they do when they negogiate their union contracts.
This radio system sounds to be every bit a disaster waiting to happen, and I cannot understand why Flynn would allow it to continue without at least reactivating the old system and running them parallel until such time as the bugs are worked out (if that’s possible). I can assure you all, and him, that individual initiative will dwindle to almost nothing and his crime numbers will begin to skyrocket if he doesn’t exercise some thinking independent of his Mayor and start doing the right thing (which should have been done in early 2004 when Mrs. Hegerty was anointed, but of course that would have required going against the Democrat establishment which is what got her the position to begin with).
I know that some of the media people read this blog and I also know that Anne E. Schwartz reads it and takes some of these things back to Flynn, so they are not ignorant of what we are talking about here. Time to start doing the right thing Chief and media and quit making excuses for inaction.
March 11th, 2010 at 10:45 am
I truly appreciate your perspective, Glenn, and completely agree that all the white hats, from Barret to Flynn to the union heads, are thumb twiddling while the beats are on the line.
Which is exactly why your take on the average cop is off: he and his family are already sitting on a much deadlier hand grenade.
Understanding that, four words comes to mind:
Screw The Department Rules.
This as akin to sending a Pfc. into a raging firefight in Afghanistan with a pointy stick made of balsa wood as his weapon. This is exactly what the MPD and Union hierarchy are doing to your buddies. This is unfit for command type stuff.
Look, there are times when situations far outweigh the adherence to man-made rules, particularly man-made political rules created for no other reason than to protect the governing/ruling class from embarrassment and criticism of their stupidity.
Again, if this isn’t such a time, then I don’t know what ever would be.
And you know what? If one of the badges - just one - would step forward he/she would be hailed as a hero amongst his fellow badges, and it would snowball, and the useless union heads would see political opportunity and snuggle up to him/her, and he/she would be untouchable by any stupid Department Rule.
And besides, there are ways to remain anonymous.
March 11th, 2010 at 11:21 am
It’s still frustrating, after all these years, watching and hearing about people who have been placed in positions of authority and who have a duty to represent their people fail to do so.
March 11th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
[...] [...]
March 11th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
I started a thread about the Chief Flynn memo.
http://forums.radioreference.com/wisconsin-radio-discussion-forum/175319-publice-safety-must-migrate-digital-trunked-01-01-2013-a.html
March 11th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
I just thought of something that might make at least the upper level pinheads get off their fat asses…
It’s out there: a Big Fat Mega-Million Dollar Law Suit - naming MKE, MPD, MPA, Barret, Flynn, Crivello, and Harris Comm Inc. - from the family of the first cop cut down because of known and continual problems with the comm sys.
That juicy tomato is already pink on the vine. It’s a matter of how much the pinheads let it ripen before it gets picked.
Tick tock, pinheads.
Habush Habush & Rottier, got your ears on? Sharpen your pencils, fellas.
March 12th, 2010 at 8:30 am
The problem with such lawsuits is the people responsible NEVER have to pay out of their own pockets. The taxpayers of Milwaukee are the ones who pay because of the poor leadership and limpwristed political attitudes.
This should be addressed by the unions representing the cops and supervisors as an unsafe working condition. If they squeaked loud enough, pressure from the public would likely force the changes necessary to remedy the problem and would have the added benefit of exposing those in authority who have sat on their hands and allowed this problem to grow over the years. These two unions could take the issue to court if all else failed.
March 12th, 2010 at 11:27 am
To true. Perhaps the city could recover by in turn suing Harris (in my mind, they should dump Harris’ junk system now and do that anyway).
However, the threat of a huge monetary payout isn’t the real meat behind my supposition.
These threats are: discovery, subpoenas, testimony, long term non-stop bad exposure.
The mere possibility of such litigation stemming from this utter fiasco certainly should open eyes. Patrick touched on it in #14 above but I failed initially to see the true importance of his mention because his scenario was front-end. But seen from an after-the-fact perspective: oh man, it is ever so much more damaging to all the pinheads involved.
IOW, what the pinheads must certainly realize - should realize - is that should the day come that such a suit is filed, Barret instantly becomes persona non grata throughout the entire state, Flynn never makes another six months, and the blues get to do to Crivello whatever it is they do.
Imagine Barret as Governor, sued by a dead cop’s wife.
That is the meat. Tenderized and grilled black.
Tick tock, pinheads.
March 14th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
MjM:
You seem to care more about this and be more passionate about this than too many (not all, just too many) of the MPD insiders here.
Thanks.
March 20th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
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