Hello group,
a few months back in either 'Urgent Communications' or 'Mission Critical' magazine, there was an article that briefly discussed projected service life of portable radios when they are issued to an individual, rather than shared between groups of public safety officers. Does anyone have a lead on this article? I have searched the online archives to no avail....
I am working with a Police Department (who will be upgrading their radio fleet) to find some validation to the argument for keeping with the practice of issuing each officer their own radio. They currently have MTS2000 Model 1's that are about 10 years old and in very good shape, I must say... which I think is proof in itself.
Anyone else fought this battle before?
Jim M.
Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
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MT2000 man
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Re: Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
Regarding the article, I unfortunately don't have a source for it.
However I do also agree with the practice of issuing each officer a take-home radio. Most of my local PD's issue radios to each officer, and it has worked out great for the most part. My local agency also has (since 1998) MTS2000 UHF model 1's and they have no plans to upgrade anytime soon. (Most PD's here in CT are still analog lol).
The departments that "share" the radios half the time end up getting thier radios broken/replaced/repaired on a much more frequent basis.
However I do also agree with the practice of issuing each officer a take-home radio. Most of my local PD's issue radios to each officer, and it has worked out great for the most part. My local agency also has (since 1998) MTS2000 UHF model 1's and they have no plans to upgrade anytime soon. (Most PD's here in CT are still analog lol).
The departments that "share" the radios half the time end up getting thier radios broken/replaced/repaired on a much more frequent basis.
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Tom in D.C.
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Re: Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
Maybe the radios should be viewed the same way weapons are viewed. It's yours as long as you're in the job, so you take good care of it because some day your life might depend on it. Being handed an HT that might or might not work at the beginning of your shift must be somewhat unsettling.
Tom in D.C.
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RadioSouth
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Re: Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
Definetely a fan of issue rather than fleet use of something that could be considered a life safety device. Getting the bean counters to make that initial expenditure is another story though.
Re: Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
Its always better for each employee to have their assigned radio. MDC and or LID radio IDs stay with the officer/employee at all times. During emergencies where staff needs to be called in from off duty its much more expedidious if they allready have their radios and ready to go 10-8. Rather than trying to "find" a radio.
Fowler
Fowler
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Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
I can't help you with the article at the moment, but I have fought the battle before. At my previous agency we shared squad cars and Motorolas when I started. To give you a time frame, we shared Motorola HT220s. I think some were so called
Slim Line. We had only one HT440. These were VHF high band on a simplex frequency. We could not scan with those either, of course. Sometime after I started the new chief had money budgeted that would allow newer portables from the big M to be shared of buy a GE MPI for every sworn officer. I must admit, I wasn't overwhelmed by my new GE MPI, BUT having a take home radio was nice. No more waiting around at roll call for a portable to get turned in and hope it got a half of hour of charge before a call came in!
That chief vowed at the time of the purchase to get more radios in the future and he did accomplish that. I was one of the first to get a brand new Motorola MT1000. I thought that was a great radio. We were still on simplex, but I could scan with it.
When I went from city to county about 17 years ago I was issued a Bendix King. I can't recall the model number at the moment. It might be LPH or something similar. The Bendix King was field programmable and, as a result, I always carried a small paper clip with me for programming changes. The county mobiles were GEs with the 16 channels RANGR head. (Ugh!) Sometimes later I was able to score a hand me down GE Delta state patrol radio. The modifications were made so that it, too, was field programmable and with 4 banks of 32 channels each, it was clearly the best GE I had ever used.
Fast forward to today where I am assigned a take home unmarked, Glock Model 22 (.40 caliber S&W), Nextel i680, Panasonic Toughbook CF-29, and a Motorola XTS5000 on an 800 mHz simulcast digital, trunked system. I use only the XTS5000 in an XTVA. I have no separate mobile. I would like the handheld control head, but I doubt that will happen. Granted, since I am in civilian clothes and in an unmarked, it is not like I am "tied to the radio" like the patrol guys, BUT I do miss having a genuine hard wired mobile radio.
Anyway, enough about me reminiscing, clearly it is better for officer safety, accountability, etc. to have assigned portables. On the other hand, it is more economical to have shared equipment. How to quantify it will be difficult. When you say "upgrading their fleet", can you use any of the old radios at all? Or is this a switch in bands, etc?
I guess to me it almost goes without saying, if you have assigned radios now, switching to shared is stepping backwards.
Slim Line. We had only one HT440. These were VHF high band on a simplex frequency. We could not scan with those either, of course. Sometime after I started the new chief had money budgeted that would allow newer portables from the big M to be shared of buy a GE MPI for every sworn officer. I must admit, I wasn't overwhelmed by my new GE MPI, BUT having a take home radio was nice. No more waiting around at roll call for a portable to get turned in and hope it got a half of hour of charge before a call came in!
That chief vowed at the time of the purchase to get more radios in the future and he did accomplish that. I was one of the first to get a brand new Motorola MT1000. I thought that was a great radio. We were still on simplex, but I could scan with it.
When I went from city to county about 17 years ago I was issued a Bendix King. I can't recall the model number at the moment. It might be LPH or something similar. The Bendix King was field programmable and, as a result, I always carried a small paper clip with me for programming changes. The county mobiles were GEs with the 16 channels RANGR head. (Ugh!) Sometimes later I was able to score a hand me down GE Delta state patrol radio. The modifications were made so that it, too, was field programmable and with 4 banks of 32 channels each, it was clearly the best GE I had ever used.
Fast forward to today where I am assigned a take home unmarked, Glock Model 22 (.40 caliber S&W), Nextel i680, Panasonic Toughbook CF-29, and a Motorola XTS5000 on an 800 mHz simulcast digital, trunked system. I use only the XTS5000 in an XTVA. I have no separate mobile. I would like the handheld control head, but I doubt that will happen. Granted, since I am in civilian clothes and in an unmarked, it is not like I am "tied to the radio" like the patrol guys, BUT I do miss having a genuine hard wired mobile radio.
Anyway, enough about me reminiscing, clearly it is better for officer safety, accountability, etc. to have assigned portables. On the other hand, it is more economical to have shared equipment. How to quantify it will be difficult. When you say "upgrading their fleet", can you use any of the old radios at all? Or is this a switch in bands, etc?
I guess to me it almost goes without saying, if you have assigned radios now, switching to shared is stepping backwards.
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RADIOMAN2002
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Re: Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
Our agency has a mix of both, but I am all for issued radios. I work in communications shop for an agency which has a very tough working enviroment. Radios we see for repair are generally from work gangs, not from supervisors that are issued radios. Though we occasionally get a supervisors radio after its been run over by something. Generally issued radios are in better shape then the gang radios. To prove the point further, we are in the middle of the narrow band upgrade. We have hundreds of radios coming through the door now some of which are 20+ years old. I received about 20 MPA portables that looked like the just came out of the box, these were issued radios. The gang radios we received are unbelievable, I am surprised they even still work. I received one radio that some one lost 4 years ago, they found it only after digging it up out of the ground.
The best way to prove the point of issued vs shared is look at the repair records of issued vs shared, the issued will have far fewer repairs.
The best way to prove the point of issued vs shared is look at the repair records of issued vs shared, the issued will have far fewer repairs.
Re: Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
Years ago the PD Sabers were shared and they had to be checked out at the start of the shift. We managed to purchase enough for the officer to be issued a radio.
The maint went down since if a radio is yours, you tend to take care of it. Currently our XTS5000s are issued and I have very little problems with the 900 or so the PD has in service. Fire has about 500 shift issued XTS5000s and I have much more of them in for service.
The maint went down since if a radio is yours, you tend to take care of it. Currently our XTS5000s are issued and I have very little problems with the 900 or so the PD has in service. Fire has about 500 shift issued XTS5000s and I have much more of them in for service.
Re: Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
Definitely have seen the benefits to " issued" radios for public safety.I took a vendor on a ride along on my customer visits route last month. He wondered why some agencies had issued and others had shared radios.I told him the benefits and shortcomings of both ( quality of issued care vs shared budgetary)
He was a Rep for aftermarket chargers and batteries.
He could point out right aways if a customer was issued or shared just by seeing condition of duty crew radios.
Shared were scuffed,dented,bent antennas and the issued were clean,full charged Impres battery,almost new looking. He even pointed out the Volunteer per diem EMT/Medic radios (shared) and the FT staff EMT/Medics by thier radio condition.
Outside of a few reprograms or PM checks,I hardly see the issued radios coming into shop anymore. Quite the opposite for the shared units.
I have know oncoming duty crew to realize they left thier issued radio at home and they leave 10 mins before shift briefing to run home and get thier radio or call wifey to bring it into them out of fear of getting stuck with a "spare" shared portable at the station.
For shared customers I just throw all thier serials and models onto a service agreement until the models expire.
He was a Rep for aftermarket chargers and batteries.
He could point out right aways if a customer was issued or shared just by seeing condition of duty crew radios.
Shared were scuffed,dented,bent antennas and the issued were clean,full charged Impres battery,almost new looking. He even pointed out the Volunteer per diem EMT/Medic radios (shared) and the FT staff EMT/Medics by thier radio condition.
Outside of a few reprograms or PM checks,I hardly see the issued radios coming into shop anymore. Quite the opposite for the shared units.
I have know oncoming duty crew to realize they left thier issued radio at home and they leave 10 mins before shift briefing to run home and get thier radio or call wifey to bring it into them out of fear of getting stuck with a "spare" shared portable at the station.
For shared customers I just throw all thier serials and models onto a service agreement until the models expire.
nothing
Re: Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
Thanks to all for sharing your experiences! I am definately going to support the continued practice of issuing radios to the individual officers. Another benefit is the ability to rapidly put additional officers on the road in emergencies/disaster situations... and the fact that we had a tornado pass through town last week should cement that reasoning.
Happy 4th!
Jim
Happy 4th!
Jim
Re: Article on "Issued" vs. "Shared" radios
Well, if you're going to do that, you need to issue two batteries with the radio. If there's a call-in, you'll need to distribute a charged battery to start the shift or finish it.abbylind wrote:Its always better for each employee to have their assigned radio. MDC and or LID radio IDs stay with the officer/employee at all times. During emergencies where staff needs to be called in from off duty its much more expedidious if they allready have their radios and ready to go 10-8. Rather than trying to "find" a radio.