155.370 Question

[LathamScan]

I am hoping someone out there that is currently (or formerly) involved with law enforcement could tell me what exactly 155.370 is supposed to be used for. I know it's a statewide law enforcement channel but does it have a specific purpose or can agencies use it as they need? I ask this question because in the last couple of weeks I have noticed various types of activity on this channel in different areas of the state.

- Two weeks ago I had to return to Vermont for a funeral. While up there I was monitoring NYSP Troop B Zone 1 traffic on 155.370 instead of the regular 154.905/155.595 pair, which was being used by Zone 3.

- Here in Albany I hear lots of inter-agency car to car traffic on 155.370, some of it official and some of it not-quite-so-official, especially on or near the interstates. But a couple of agencies in the Capital District have it listed in their radios as a Tactical channel, rather than Statewide MRD.

Kevin

 

[radionerd13669]

It is used in SLC as an inter agency ch between all police depts and some others.It is also used to contact corrections

 

[58006]

I am hoping someone out there that is currently (or formerly) involved with law enforcement could tell me what exactly 155.370 is supposed to be used for. I know it's a statewide law enforcement channel but does it have a specific purpose or can agencies use it as they need? I ask this question because in the last couple of weeks I have noticed various types of activity on this channel in different areas of the state.

- Two weeks ago I had to return to Vermont for a funeral. While up there I was monitoring NYSP Troop B Zone 1 traffic on 155.370 instead of the regular 154.905/155.595 pair, which was being used by Zone 3.

- Here in Albany I hear lots of inter-agency car to car traffic on 155.370, some of it official and some of it not-quite-so-official, especially on or near the interstates. But a couple of agencies in the Capital District have it listed in their radios as a Tactical channel, rather than Statewide MRD.

Kevin

That is a great question. In theory the frequency is supposed to be used for the coordination of activities between law enforcement agencies.

It is pretty much a free for all, but not as near as bad as National 155.475 or SP G Tac 155.565, since most LEO's and Troopers think those two frequencies are "secret" or "encrypted" neither of which is correct.

You can tend to hear some interesting things on those frequencies, some of which hing closely on what is considered "applicable" communications by the FCC.

 

[rbm]

In the Broome county area it's used for almost everything.

Multi-agency car chases
Large scale police operations
Fugitive searches (including officer down instances)
Occasions when the normal Police/Sheriff repeater is out of service
Surveillance
During widespread power outages etc.
Helicopter search operations

It's a frequency you should always monitor.

Rich

 

[DaveNF2G]

The original plan was for 155.370 to be used for mobile-to-mobile interagency comms, and 39.46 to be used for point-to-point comms between police bases. However, this being New York with "home rule" and all that, agencies pretty much use the frequency for whatever they damned well please.

 

[c0untyb0y]

with no SWN now, I'd expect more use of 155.370 for damn near anything law related.

was I dreaming too when I found out that this channel isn't for use by base stations, only mobiles??? then why the hell do so many local PDs and county PSAPs have this plugged into their consoles for transmitting?!

probably for the same reason that Oneida County uses 155.715 statewide EMS for their law data channel.

myself I find that with my close proximity to the NYS Thruway that SP Car to Car 154.665 is a much better way to pass the time. you miss so much just listening to 453.425/525.

 

[58006]

was I dreaming too when I found out that this channel isn't for use by base stations, only mobiles??? then why the hell do so many local PDs and county PSAPs have this plugged into their consoles for transmitting?!

Many are legitimetly licensed to transmit on 155.370 as a base station, though there are many more that are not and just assume "That's Intrastate" so we can just use it.

 

[Spec]

As was expressed earlier the "plan" was for a frequency to be used by mobile units only. In fact some departments chastised other departments when a base was put on the air. The theory was to keep the power down so units further away could use the frequency at the same time without interfering with anyone else. No CTCSS was to be used so a unit would not be "locked out" from calling another unit in the area. The plan did work in the southern tier for the most part. It's demise to some extent was NJ and Ct were not on the same path . After all it was not a nationwide so to speak. Another thing also came into play. Departments started to migrate to "newer and better" technology on UHF etc. Let's not digress into a vendor vs vendor argument here as that is not the intent. Once the mold was broken others soon followed. Now once again the radio infrastructure is in a bit of disarray. PD's have never been overly interactive with each other. Yes, they do cooperate, but unlike FD's who work for extended periods of time on mutual aid compacts for the most part PD mutual aid is usually very brief. New York State represents a wonderful example of diverse radio systems due it's metro - remote topography. At one time I believe 460.025 was to be utilized as the UHF interop frequency like 155.370 at least in the southern tier by departments. UHF standard systems have fallen by the wayside to UHF trunking for the most part and the idea with it. I have left out VHF-Low as many vendors seem to be shying aways from new equipment. Low band as some great advantages however. Then there is the "TAC" plan. All these plans to an extend were good ideas. Some better than others. Only 155.3700 seems to have stayed somewhat steady. Had some good coordination taken place and folks looked at other working systems around the nation I believe NY could have already had a great interop network in place. California for example has had in use the CLEMARS net since the 70's. While not perfect it might have worked here. At about the same time that 155.3700 came into existence Westchester County developed the "Hotline" phone system. So the excuse was "no need for another radio". Not picking on any departments here, but Westchester was a perfect example of many small departments not willing to share any "secret" radio communications with each other or anyone for that matter. Again the two different mentalities FD vs PD . I'm not trying to bad mouth anyone here ,but that was what was happening at that time. Times change, boss's change, plans change. 155.3700 still plugs along and seems to be holding it's own. In the southern tier many agencies still utilize 370 and to some extent 475. Both are good for those close encounters.

 

[rbm]

This is a good time to bump this thread back to the top and reiterate the importance of always monitoring the 155.370 Inter-Agency frequency in many areas.

A lot of the on-scene activity during the Binghamton shootings yesterday was on this frequency.

Also, if you're interested in listening to the events as they unfolded during the shooting in Binghamton, you can playback/download the audio from the ScanAmerica web site "Scanner Archive". Along with the tactical and surveillance frequencies, this isn't one of the frequencies included in the stream, but you'll here them call to switch to I/A.

Broome County Sheriff, Fire, and EMS:
Broome County, New York - Scanner Archive

Events start at 12:30 minutes into this file and continue for the rest of the day:
Audio recorded on 04/03/2009 from 10:20 am - 10:35 am

Rich