.
9/19/13,
"Radios failed during Navy Yard attack, emergency responders say," The Hill, Kevin Bogardus
"Radios for federal firefighters and police officers failed during
Monday’s mass shooting at Washington’s Navy Yard, according to union
representatives for first responders.
Union officials said
police and firefighters resorted to using their cellphones and radios
from D.C.’s emergency responders to communicate with each other during
the attack.
Anthony Meely, chairman of the Fraternal Order of
Police Naval District Washington (NDW) Labor Committee, said police
officers who were first on the scene at the Navy Yard had trouble
communicating with others in the force via their radios.
Initially, officers found that their radios were working. But as they
ventured deeper into the building where the shooting took place, their
equipment stopped functioning.
After the first shootout with
the gunman, one officer found his radio’s battery was dead, while
another officer could not receive a signal from his radio and was unable
to call for help. That forced them to use an officer’s cellphone to
call others outside the building, according to Meely.
“They had to use their cellphone to just call out and tell them what's going on,” Meely said.
Meely,
who was on the scene at Navy Yard and took part in the search for a
potential second shooter, said problems with their radios have been “a
known issue” on the base with radio batteries not being able to hold
charge and being unable to receive signals inside buildings.
The union representative said he thought it was “sad” that police officers had to use a cellphone to call for help.
“I
think it's disgusting, unnecessary and sad, but what could they do if
the radios weren't working? But that was the only way for them to call
and get them some help,” Meely said.
Firefighters were also having problems with their radio signals at the Navy Yard, according to one union official.
Greg
Russell, president of the National Capita Federal Firefighters, said
his firefighters were on location setting up an incident command post a
few doors down from where the shooting took place.
“The incident
commander from Naval District Washington was not able to communicate
from his position inside the building to fire units outside of the
building. He was not able to communicate with his subordinate units
outside of the building,” Russell said.
“He had to rely upon the
radios that belong to the D.C. Fire Department. He could not deal
directly with his own unit on Navy radios,” he said.
A NDW spokesman said the base is undergoing a review of its physical security.
"At
this time the NDW focus remains on healing as a Navy family and
transitioning to normal operations at the Washington Navy Yard. The
Secretary of the Navy has ordered a review of physical security and we
will support it fully. Our biggest concern is our Navy family,"
said Ed
Zeigler, NDW's director of public affairs.
Public safety
officers on military bases and other federal facilities have long
complained about their radios, saying they cannot use them to
communicate to each other during emergencies.
Russell, who came
down from Annapolis, Md., in response to the shooting, said he went to
nearby Bolling Air Force Base and helped debrief fire fighters when they
returned from the scene.
He said the federal firefighters’
incident commander’s radio was not powerful enough to hit a transmission
tower outside the building. “D.C. Fire, their radios worked
appropriately and efficiently from the same building,” he said.
Russell is calling for NDW officials responsible for the radio system to resign.
Radio
communications has been a persistent problem for public safety
officials, hampering the responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks as well
as Hurricane Katrina.
Emergency responders lobbied Congress
successfully to authorize a $7 billion nationwide wireless network —
which is not yet in operation— that could help improve radio
communications during disasters.
“The FCC will continue to
monitor, evaluate and respond as needed to help ensure our nation's
communications infrastructure works when people need it most. These are
the times when Americans must be able to communicate with family,
friends and emergency personnel,”
said acting Federal Communications
Commission Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn in a speech on Tuesday.
Security
at the Navy Yard has come into question following revelations that the
identified shooter, former Navy reservist Aaron Alexis, kept his
security clearance despite mental health problems and gun-related
arrests.
The Pentagon has ordered military-wide reviews of base
security and background checks in the wake of the shooting. In addition,
several lawmakers on Capitol Hill already plan to hold hearings
regarding the security clearance process that helped Alexis enter the
base."
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