Official Word From LASO
zackhenderson said:
Sorry to bring up an old post, but I was wondering why LASO even has the beeps when a field unit is talking...seems like it would be a real annoyance!
Here is the
official word from the LASO (LASD), an email from a supervisor friend at LASO Communications Center (SCC), about the use of the "busy tone":
From : Ortega, Alfred D. <XXXX@lasd.org>
Sent : Tuesday, January 3, 2006 10:42 AM
To : David <hotdjdave@XXXX.com>
Subject : Radio Busy Tone
David,
Deputy safety is the primary reason for the busy tone. Air control is vital during an emergency; transmission discipline is essential. This is never more true than when handling a deputy involved shooting. Air time for the handling deputy is absolutely crucial. Who else knows conditions at the scene? Status of on-scene deputies, number and location of suspects? Direction of fire, kill zone, arriving unit deployment etc.? After getting out the location and rolling rescue a dispatcher's most important function is insuring that the handling deputy has air time when he needs it. There is no doubt that everyone has only good intentions during a 998, but far too often the involved unit can not get a word in edgewise because of all the responding units. If we eliminate the busy tone the dispatcher's job will become more difficult during emergencies. I have personally handled seven 998's and supervised communications on a couple dozen more. With rare exception, there is less air time for the handling unit when the units can hear each other directly because it is harder for the dispatcher to control the air. When units can hear the requesting deputy they get more excited and less controlled in their response. A deputy under fire has enough to worry about, he needs a communications professional to handle the radio traffic.
If we eliminate the busy tone (implement full repeat) we will lose functionality and flexibility built into the system. Presently any unit can request the patch and gain the exclusivity an emergency call or coordination requires. Any time desk personnel or a station Watch Commander feel the patch would be helpful their request will automatically be accommodated. Radio channels exist for the field, but they are a shared resource. Compliance with communications procedures and on-the-air discipline is necessary to regulate usage of the communications system. The system is self-regulating by design. Except for an emergency situation, units must go through the control point, SCC, in order to communicate. This control does not benefit SCC directly, we rarely use the system. The Watch Commanders, desk personnel and field users we serve benefit from this control. It is easier for a Watch Commander to interject his direction into a situation when SCC controls the air.
Our present system was designed around the concept of centralized dispatch with decentralized command and control. The channel assignment in the Radio Room is controlled by a workload algorithm which permits us to handle all of our dispatch channels with less than half of the staffing and dispatch consoles required by a fixed system. Putting each channel on full repeat would require that we assign no more that one channel to each dispatch console. When channels are in full repeat, such as during self dispatch, units on different channels are unable to copy each other. There is no busy tone either during full repeat operations, therefore units have no idea when they can transmit without covering units on other channels. The Los Angeles Police Department does not have a busy tone on their channels. Their configuration, however, requires one dispatcher and console for each station. Our Radio Room has eighteen consoles, all of which would be required if we were to operate in full repeat mode. Conservatively, we would require an additional six consoles minimum to make full repeat work. One console for Telephone Operations, one for Transit Services Bureau, SCC Access Channel and the Emergency Trigger Channel, one to handle the various support channels such as Aero Bureau Dispatch, Special Units Dispatch etc., one console for tactical channels including the five mutual aid channels and two additional consoles minimum to address maintenance requirements. Minimum staffing would have to be increased from eight to twenty eight on each shift, including the relief factor!
Are there any advantages to eliminating the busy tone? We believe there have been times when help would have arrived sooner if the units heard each other directly as they do in a full repeat configuration. Certainly we could hypothesize a scenario wherein full duplex mode makes the difference between life and death. In reality, however, we have never heard such an incident. Typically the time that would be saved is less than a minute and these incidents are few and far between. The question is do the disadvantages outweigh the potential advantages? There would be much less air time available because a lot more units would be using the channel. A Lakewood Watch Commander, for example, would not have sole control over what went out over his frequency because he would be sharing with Norwalk to the north and perhaps Lynwood to the west.
We understand the heart and purpose of those questioning the busy tone. We know that in certain incidents it could make a difference, but we do not believe the potential benefit outweighs the potential detriment. We have station desk personnel who know the area monitoring the channels with us. Anyone can ask for the patch, even the SCC dispatcher can use her own judgment and activate it. Certain incidents require the automatic activation of the duplex patch, which accomplishes the same goals as full repeat would. During emergencies the Station Watch Commander has a direct line to the SCC Watch Commander and can exert necessary control over any situation.
Sergeant Alfred Ortega
Sheriff's Communications Center
Radio Room Operations
(323) ###-####
<XXXX@lasd.org>
Note: Some conatct information has been redacted for confidentiality purposes.
