Thursday, April 23, 2009

Capitol radio system could cost $100M

I think it is great that we are working to update the radio system that policemen use in the Capitol because it is definite need of an upgrade. One of the main observations that I have made is that the Capitol police are unable to communicate with one another as well as they should be able to. Instead of using the radios, I have witnessed numerous occasions in which policemen have to walk all the way to the other officer that they wish to communicate with because of the poor quality radios. During evacuations and fire drills, it has been total chaos and disorganization throughout my office building and lines that would not move. Had there actually been a real fire in the Longworth building, I am pretty sure most people would have been left to dry because none of the policemen knew which doors were to be open for the evacuation. Now I know this suggests that the police are unprepared or unfit to get their job done properly, but what I take out of it is that communication is somehow not getting through the right channels. Spending $100 million on an upgrade does seem like a lot of money for such a small task, but in the scope of things, safety should be the main concern of these officers and if not supplied with the right equipment how can we expect them to do their jobs in the best way possible?

No comments: