MONTREAL – Communications between police on patrol and their dispatchers were disrupted Monday and Sunday because of technical glitches with the computers in police vehicles.
In radio exchanges recorded on both days, Montreal police officers can be heard expressing confusion, being misunderstood and being delayed responding to calls
The exchanges, which were captured on radio frequencies used by the Montreal police, can be heard by anyone with a specialized radio scanner.
In one case, a dispatcher is heard saying she hopes a case of conjugal violence officers were responding to yesterday "is not an old one. We can only hope."
The recordings, made by freelance news photographer Daniel Sweeney, come after revelations last week in The Gazette that the cost of a multi-year upgrade of Montreal police computer systems has ballooned from $1.65 million nearly a decade ago to $20 million. The recordings were made between Sunday morning and yesterday afternoon.
Such communication problems have been happening "on most days for the past two years," said Sweeney, 42, who has listened to police scanners for about 20 years.
"They’re asked what’s wrong and it’s always, ‘My computer is frozen.’ "
Several of the taped conversations have officers saying that their portable laptops – used to provide cops with such data as licensed drivers’ information and detailed criminal histories -are "out of range," jargon that means the laptops’ cellular transmission system is temporarily jammed.
When that happens, police use the CB radios in their cars and their walkie-talkies, which do not always get the best reception.
Richard Lafond, head of the police administration and support unit, explained that a planned upgrade of the communication system Sunday from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. caused the glitches on that day. Yesterday, "there was a bug in the system. We worked it out in about 30 minutes."
The important thing to remember is that there is a reliable backup -verbal communications by radio -that is used when the laptops malfunction, he said.
In one conversation yesterday, a police officer says: "Yes, ma’am my computer is frozen. I’ll do that for you as soon as I reboot." Another officer asks a dispatcher if her call has been cancelled. She doesn’t know because her computer crashed, she adds. "No, no, you weren’t cancelled," comes the reply.
Another officer wants to enter his report verbally. "The computer isn’t taking it. I’m still out of range."
The police communications system uses the Bell Mobility wireless network. "There are always ins and outs in any network," Daniel Tetu, of the police computer systems unit, said. "These are just kinks that are being worked out. We have daily meetings with (Bell) about the system."
Bernard Larin, a spokesperson for Claude Trudel, the city of Montreal member of the executive committee responsible for public security, said Trudel talked with Police Chief Marc Parent yesterday about the glitches. "Montrealers can rest assured police service was not compromised over the last two days," he quoted Trudel as saying after the discussion with Parent. He added police responded in three minutes and 49 seconds yesterday to a conjugal violence call – considered a priority call. "That’s faster than usual."
Marc-Andre Gadoury, an opposition city councillor with Projet Montreal, said the glitches indicate the police do not have the skills to manage such a large computer upgrade. "When they work the laptops are supposed to provide information in one second," Gadoury said. "But we know that in some calls even 15 seconds can make a big difference."
To listen to audio recordings of the problems with police communications, click on the links to the right of this story, or below:
1st audio clip: Confusion over conjugal violence call. Recorded the morning of Monday Nov. 22, 2010; a Montreal police dispatcher and a police officer talk about a conjugal violence case the officers are responding to. "I hope it’s not an old call that has come back up (on the system)," a woman is heard saying. "We can only hope." Then, a woman says "My computer is frozen… is there someone in the (western sector of Montreal Island) who might have an old computer terminal?"
2nd audio clip: System-wide computer problemRecorded on Monday Nov. 22, 2010 at 9:45 a.m.; a Montreal police dispatcher and a police officer discuss an outage of the computer network linking the patrol cars with the dispatch centre. "We’re going to fall into vocal mode," a woman says. "We’re having an outage for an undetermined reason," says another woman.
3rd audio clip: Audio conversation recorded Monday Nov. 22, 2010 at 2:35 p.m. between a Montreal police dispatcher and a police officer about the officer’s exact location. "Are you at Winners?" the dispatcher asks. He responds that his police car’s computer was not working so they had to change plans.
4th audio clip: Computer error discussion recorded Monday Nov. 22, 2010 between a Montreal police officer and a dispatcher indicating he has a problem with his patrol car’s computer. "I have a little window indicating ‘message terminal’… and then below it’s marked ‘error while reading the data,’ " the officer tells the dispatcher.
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