The bottom line in all this is: do the people in the police/fire departments KNOW what kind of radio system they are buying when they sign the contract?
The answer, from my experience, is a resounding NO.
It's right for us, here, with varying amounts of hands-on radio knowledge to (rightfully) condemn the use of these systems for emergency operations, but unfortunately, we are not formally consulted, much less even asked about, the pros and cons of such a system.
The bosses who sign the contract ask a few rudimentary questions (primarily: how much?) while the Motorola rep nods in agreement with each question.
Then, when that poor guy in the cellar, lost with no air, tries to get on the radio for help and all he gets is a lot of chirping, everyone wants to know, how come? And Motorola's answer is (and I've seen this in some articles) that the system worked "as designed....". That covers Motorola from any liability and puts the entire liability on the Department who bought the system. In other words, the Department "knew....or should have known..." what they were buying, flaws and all.
But did they?
