The Milwaukee Common Council passed request for Police Department to issue communication radios to public officials.
By H. Nelson Goodson
April 14, 2011
Milwaukee - On Wednesday, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office released a video that captured moments inside the Mamayek Ace Hardware store after a man was shot on April 4 by police. The video showed an officer trying to use his OpenSky radio at least three times to communicate with the police operator, but couldn't get through because it was busy. The incident brought a heated debate on Tuesday's Common Council meeting.
Alderman Robert "Bob" G. Donovan critcized the failure of the OpenSky to allow police to communicate with the department during an emergency. The failure of the radios to operate properly puts officers safety at risk and danger, according to Donovan.
Several weeks ago, a 23-year-old man got into an argument with his mother inside a hardware store at the 2100 block of W. National Ave. and ended up stabbing her. When police arrived, the man came at officers with the knife and was shot by one of the officers. The suspect survived and is expected to be charged.
An officer tried to communicate with the department, but couldn't get through. The OpenSky system has been known to fail numerous times and has cost the city taxpayers more than $18 million.
The police department recently enable an emergency button system on the OpenSky radios that automatically cuts through to the operator during emergencies. But, officers haven't been fully trained on how the system works, according to Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn who defended the failed OpenSky system. Flynn admitted, OpenSky is not a perfect system and has failed at least 10 percent of the time.
Alderman Donovan wanted to initiate a probe into the failed OpenSky system and had requested for Flynn to provide him with information and documents concerning the operation of OpenSky. Flynn has denied the request citing it was to broad, would take 1,500 staff hours to compile and would be too costly to get the information.
On Tuesday, the Common Council on a vote of 10-3 approved a resolution to allow the police department to issue a police radio to any public official requesting one to monitor calls. A Common Council subpoena to force Flynn to comply with the information request of a probe by the Public Safety Committee into the OpenSky system was tabled until next month.
Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile
By H. Nelson Goodson
April 14, 2011
Milwaukee - On Wednesday, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office released a video that captured moments inside the Mamayek Ace Hardware store after a man was shot on April 4 by police. The video showed an officer trying to use his OpenSky radio at least three times to communicate with the police operator, but couldn't get through because it was busy. The incident brought a heated debate on Tuesday's Common Council meeting.
Alderman Robert "Bob" G. Donovan critcized the failure of the OpenSky to allow police to communicate with the department during an emergency. The failure of the radios to operate properly puts officers safety at risk and danger, according to Donovan.
Several weeks ago, a 23-year-old man got into an argument with his mother inside a hardware store at the 2100 block of W. National Ave. and ended up stabbing her. When police arrived, the man came at officers with the knife and was shot by one of the officers. The suspect survived and is expected to be charged.
An officer tried to communicate with the department, but couldn't get through. The OpenSky system has been known to fail numerous times and has cost the city taxpayers more than $18 million.
The police department recently enable an emergency button system on the OpenSky radios that automatically cuts through to the operator during emergencies. But, officers haven't been fully trained on how the system works, according to Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn who defended the failed OpenSky system. Flynn admitted, OpenSky is not a perfect system and has failed at least 10 percent of the time.
Alderman Donovan wanted to initiate a probe into the failed OpenSky system and had requested for Flynn to provide him with information and documents concerning the operation of OpenSky. Flynn has denied the request citing it was to broad, would take 1,500 staff hours to compile and would be too costly to get the information.
On Tuesday, the Common Council on a vote of 10-3 approved a resolution to allow the police department to issue a police radio to any public official requesting one to monitor calls. A Common Council subpoena to force Flynn to comply with the information request of a probe by the Public Safety Committee into the OpenSky system was tabled until next month.
Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile
No comments:
Post a Comment