and the situation with CFD stands out as a sadly shining example of what is wrong with the entire process of public safety communications system procurement in America.
One vendor gets exclusive no-bid contracts, and doesn't deliver what the taxpayer ultimately pays for. First responders are left with equipment that doesn't work, or in this case, none at all, and ultimately pay the price.
The crooks in suits, aka bean counting turd politicians, point their fingers at lack of funding, all while counting their payola under the table.
I find this particularly disturbing, the comm director refuses to procure functional analog radios in the meantime while waiting on Motorola to "fix their new system?" So why aren't the new radios programmed to the analog channels and issued? Why isn't the VENDOR being held accountable and made to provide suitable loaners or replacements in the meantime? For God sake even head down to the local outdoor shop and buy some FRS radios, that is better than NOTHING which is what many CFD personnel have.
Absurd. Don't know how these people sleep at night with the blood of dead firefighters on their hands. What a shame that we, the public, send these men and women in to do a job and they aren't getting the tools and support they need to make it out alive. Every single one who is responsible should be fired and charged with criminal negligence.