OAKLAND, Calif. — This city’s year-old $18 million police radio system failed repeatedly during President Obama’s visit to Oakland Monday and during protests surrounding it.
Many of the 100 police officers assigned to presidential security duty that day were unable at times to communicate through their radios with police dispatchers, and even with each other, during the president’s fund-raiser at a downtown theater, according to the head of the city’s police union....
I'm just wondering if it was a signal to the guy. Tow the line and stick to the script -- or else.
The radio system that began operating in June 2011 was supposed to be a needed upgrade from the previous analog network reputed to have numerous dead zones in some of the most dangerous parts of town.
But the new digital system has been even more troublesome, plagued by breakdowns and dead spots that have left officers’ vulnerable to blackouts across Oakland and even in many commercial buildings, including the basement of the downtown police headquarters.
Monday’s radio problems were caused by a cooling unit failure on a transmission tower in the Oakland Hills, police and city officials say. It was repaired Tuesday.
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