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Kalamazoo, MI - Cell-phone interference is wreaking havoc with Kalamazoo's new police radios and has prompted the city to spend nearly a half-million dollars on tower upgrades.
Just four months after the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety flipped the switch on a new, $1.8 million radio system, the City Commission on Monday reluctantly approved spending an additional $458,777 on tower equipment.
Portable radios that officers carry outside their cars are failing at alarming rates to get their signals through, with officers encountering numerous "dead spots," particularly inside buildings, Public Safety Chief Dan Weston told commissioners.
"On several occasions, officers have been in foot pursuit, and no one has been able to hear their radio traffic," the chief said in a memo. "At other times, officers have attempted to call out for help while wrestling with a dangerous offender, and we have not heard their attempts to communicate with our radio system."
The city in November activated the new, 800-megahertz digital radio system and signed onto the Michigan Public Safety Communications System, a network of Michigan State Police towers that allows different public-safety agencies to communicate with one another.
The portable Motorola radios were tested at more than 300 sites in Kalamazoo in December 2002 and produced what Weston said was "very acceptable" coverage.
But big problems became evident immediately after the new radios went into use last November. State and Motorola engineers attribute the difficulties to the rapid proliferation of cell-phone towers and usage, Weston said. Cell-phone signals, also on the 800 MHz band, sometimes drown out signals from the 3-watt, portable radios that officers use, he said.
The fix involves adding a signal repeater and other equipment to an existing KDPS tower at station No. 6 at Howard Street and Oakland Drive, as well as upgrading state towers near Plainwell and Vicksburg that serve Kalamazoo's radio system.
"Instead of us being overwhelmed by the cell phones, it is going to allow us to overwhelm the cell phones," Weston told commissioners.
The tower work is expected to take about three months to complete.
Weston said that once the towers are upgraded, Motorola will guarantee radio coverage from inside buildings through 95 percent of the city. "There is not 100 percent coverage with any radio system ... there will still be some dead spots, (but) it is going to greatly enhance our ability to communicate," he said.
The project will cost $555,744, with the local share reduced by state contributions of $96,967 in equipment and labor. Local funding will come primarily from federal grants.
City commissioners expressed frustration with the added expense but unanimously approved the contract-change order.
"We have to do this. We can't leave our people vulnerable," Commissioner Don Cooney said.
Other communities have had similar problems with 800 MHz radios. Ionia and Monroe are among other Michigan cities that have encountered serious difficulties with interference since going on the state radio system, Weston said.
The federal government is working on a plan to move cell-phone frequencies farther away from frequencies used by police, fire and other public-safety agencies, Weston said.
City Manager Pat DiGiovanni cautioned, though, that the tower upgrades aren't necessarily a last fix for radio interference. "We may need another tower someday," he said. "We can expect more and more interference within the airwaves."
Just four months after the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety flipped the switch on a new, $1.8 million radio system, the City Commission on Monday reluctantly approved spending an additional $458,777 on tower equipment.
Portable radios that officers carry outside their cars are failing at alarming rates to get their signals through, with officers encountering numerous "dead spots," particularly inside buildings, Public Safety Chief Dan Weston told commissioners.
"On several occasions, officers have been in foot pursuit, and no one has been able to hear their radio traffic," the chief said in a memo. "At other times, officers have attempted to call out for help while wrestling with a dangerous offender, and we have not heard their attempts to communicate with our radio system."
The city in November activated the new, 800-megahertz digital radio system and signed onto the Michigan Public Safety Communications System, a network of Michigan State Police towers that allows different public-safety agencies to communicate with one another.
The portable Motorola radios were tested at more than 300 sites in Kalamazoo in December 2002 and produced what Weston said was "very acceptable" coverage.
But big problems became evident immediately after the new radios went into use last November. State and Motorola engineers attribute the difficulties to the rapid proliferation of cell-phone towers and usage, Weston said. Cell-phone signals, also on the 800 MHz band, sometimes drown out signals from the 3-watt, portable radios that officers use, he said.
The fix involves adding a signal repeater and other equipment to an existing KDPS tower at station No. 6 at Howard Street and Oakland Drive, as well as upgrading state towers near Plainwell and Vicksburg that serve Kalamazoo's radio system.
"Instead of us being overwhelmed by the cell phones, it is going to allow us to overwhelm the cell phones," Weston told commissioners.
The tower work is expected to take about three months to complete.
Weston said that once the towers are upgraded, Motorola will guarantee radio coverage from inside buildings through 95 percent of the city. "There is not 100 percent coverage with any radio system ... there will still be some dead spots, (but) it is going to greatly enhance our ability to communicate," he said.
The project will cost $555,744, with the local share reduced by state contributions of $96,967 in equipment and labor. Local funding will come primarily from federal grants.
City commissioners expressed frustration with the added expense but unanimously approved the contract-change order.
"We have to do this. We can't leave our people vulnerable," Commissioner Don Cooney said.
Other communities have had similar problems with 800 MHz radios. Ionia and Monroe are among other Michigan cities that have encountered serious difficulties with interference since going on the state radio system, Weston said.
The federal government is working on a plan to move cell-phone frequencies farther away from frequencies used by police, fire and other public-safety agencies, Weston said.
City Manager Pat DiGiovanni cautioned, though, that the tower upgrades aren't necessarily a last fix for radio interference. "We may need another tower someday," he said. "We can expect more and more interference within the airwaves."
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