Police Radios Fail (Philadelphia, PA)
PHILADELPHIA-May 20, 2004 — Officials say more than half of Philadelphia's police radio frequencies crashed when dispatchers used a command to speak to all officers at once.
Bob Eddis, the president of Philadelphia's lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, says the cops' "worst nightmare" occurred Tuesday night. The radio system, he says, "went completely dead."
The radios were out for between 20 and 40 minutes and experienced glitches for another two hours. Eddis had been reserved in his criticism of the police administration until yesterda
y, but he said angrily that there was no viable backup. Deputy Police Commissioner Charles Brennan, who is in charge of police radio, says the breakdown began because police cars from all over the city were dispatched to the Germantown neighborhood, where an officer had been attacked.
In order to talk to all officers in the city, police dispatchers used a special command, Brennan says, but invoking that command caused a series of glitches that prevented officers from speaking to dispatchers and vice versa. Brennan says officials still don't know why it happened Link to Article
Judge rejects Motorola bid to keep radio jamming testimony secret
By Steven Elbow
February 27, 2004
LATE NEWS UPDATE: U.S. Distict John Shabazz rejected Motorola's request to keep trial testimony secret.
Corporate employees and a defendant who allegedly jammed Madison police and fire emergency radio communications will testify in secret if Motorola Corp. gets its way.
The communications giant filed a motion in federal court Wednesday to close portions of testimony in the case of Rajib Mitra, 25, who allegedly threw a wrench into police and fire communications on Halloween night and other occasions last year.
In its court papers, prepared by Madison firm La Follette Godfrey & Kahn, Motorola invokes fears of terrorism to make its argument.
"Simply put, access to the confidential information sought by the United States in this action will enable would-be copycats, hackers and even terrorists to access and disable the communications systems used by more than 8,000 first responder systems worldwide, including the city of Madison Police Department," Motorola argues.
"The potential misuses of the information that Motorola witnesses will testify to is limited only by the imagination of potential copycats who seek to harm first responders and the public at large."
The radio interference incidents included the city's chaotic Halloween celebration, when police say Mitra piggy-backed pornographic audio onto police transmissions from his apartment at 10 N. Orchard St. near campus.
Mitra's attorney, Christopher Van Wagner, said he expected to argue today before U.S. District Judge John C. Shabaz that Motorola's motion would be a violation of Mitra's constitutional rights.
"We will be appearing before Judge Shabaz and strenuously objecting to the closure of any aspect of this trial as a violation of my client's Sixth Amendment right to a public trial," Van Wagner said today.
Court documents say Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim O'Shea has no objection to closing the testimony to the public.
Jury selection in Mitra's trial is scheduled to begin Monday.
Mitra was indicted last November on two counts of committing computer crimes. If convicted, he would face a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Motorola contends that testimony by Mitra and two employees the government plans to call as witnesses will disclose sensitive information that could be used by others to "endanger public safety and risk the lives of law enforcement officers."
The company, which designed the city's emergency radio system, also expressed concerns that testimony by Mitra and Motorola employees would disclose proprietary trade secrets.
The company says it wants to protect technology used in its trunking radio system, which, rather than transmitting signals from radio to radio, channels communications through a central controller.
More than 8,000 of the radio systems, versions of the company's Smartnet systems, are in operation worldwide, with over half being operated by emergency agencies such as police, fire, rescue and ambulance services, according to documents filed in federal court.
"While Motorola has developed proprietary systems to ensure the security and confidentiality of radio systems, such as the Smartlink II at issue, these systems unfortunately are not completely impervious to disruption or monitoring by determined 'hackers,' " Motorola systems engineer Bruce Dykstra, one of the witnesses the government plans to call, wrote in a court brief.
He wrote that if others learn how Mitra managed to disrupt the system, "it is clear that large-scale chaos could quickly ensue, given the widespread use of such systems by first responders."
He added that disclosure of technical information about the system in court would place the company "at a distinct competitive disadvantage."
E-mail: selbow@madison.com