3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016
Help could be slow to arrive for cops in need
explained. “It showed that there were
some pretty big gaps in our coverage.
As part of that, our captain didn’t sign
over until we could improve some
things.”
Washington’s
new system
complicates radio
communications
New equipment, mixed results
By NATALIE ST. JOHN
EO Media Group
LONG BEACH, Wash. — In rural
Paciic and Wahkiakum counties,
there are frequent occasions when a
very small group of cops from a mix
of city, county and state agencies are
on duty. When a call goes sideways,
a major crime occurs, or a calamity
happens, their differing jurisdictions
and specialties take a back seat —
they depend on each other.
Recently, in response to a mandate
from the Federal Communications
Commission, the Washington State
Patrol changed the radio communica-
tions equipment that state police and
dispatchers use, switching from an
analog “wideband” system to a dig-
ital “narrowband” system. The nar-
rowband system, known commonly
as “P25,” has the potential to be more
reliable, and make it easier for dis-
patchers to locate oficers.
However, local agencies are still
using the older analog system. When
the new technology went live in late
April, oficers at state agencies like
Department of Fish and Wildlife,
State Patrol and State Parks could still
hear what was going on with local
cops, but the local cops could no lon-
ger hear them.
Some cops, including Paciic
County Sheriff Scott Johnson, are
concerned that this communication
gap could place oficers at greater
risk. In a post on the Sheriff’s Ofice
Facebook page, Johnson said a trafic
stop last week that turned ugly high-
lights the laws of the new system.
“Those of you that liked listening
to them on your scanners may have
noticed you can no longer hear WSP.
Worse yet, neither can law enforce-
ment oficers from other agencies,
including ours. This creates serious
safety issues for the oficers on the
street,” Johnson wrote.
Photo by Bluedisk at English Wikipedia
Washington state agencies including the State Patrol recently switched
to a new “narrowband” communication system that is incompatible
with local law enforcement dispatch services in Pacific County.
Smaller slices of pie
Radio communications are the
heart of any emergency response sys-
tem. Dispatchers use dedicated radio
channels to relay information between
callers and agencies, and monitor the
status of responders. On-duty cops
are also constantly monitoring the
chatter on their radios, listening for
any indication that another oficer is
in need of backup.
There is a inite amount of radio
space available, however, and the
country’s airwaves have gotten very
crowded. About a decade ago, the
FCC decided to free up more space.
Picture a large group of hungry
people, each clamoring for a piece of
pie that has been cut into just six por-
tions. Recognizing that there wasn’t
enough pie to feed everyone — and
that even smaller slices of pie would
sell for a handsome price — the FCC
decided to cut each of those slices
in half. The FCC ordered most pub-
lic safety agencies to switch from
broad, 25 kHz-wide channels, to 12.5
kHz “narrowband” channels by 2013.
According to a publication from the
National Institute of Justice, a sec-
ond phase could eventually cut each
of those frequencies in half again, to
6.25 kHz.
Costly upgrade
Purchasing and installing narrow-
band-compatible systems has proven
hugely complicated and expensive.
Deadlines for many large agencies
have been repeatedly moved back, and
smaller agencies have avoided making
the switch.
Converting the Paciic County
Sheriff’s Ofice to narrowband would
cost about $3,000 per radio, Sheriff
Johnson said in an interview. Further
complicating matters, police cars gen-
erally need two radios to hear all the
activity in their region, because some
agencies use “Very High Frequency”
systems, while others use “Ultra-High
Frequency” systems.
“We would be investing thousands
of dollars per car in our secondary
radio. We don’t have anywhere near
close to enough money to do that,”
Johnson said, adding that the county
would also have to upgrade dispatch-
ers’ equipment, at a cost of about
$4,500 per location.
Starting around 2011, Washing-
ton State Patrol signed a contract with
Motorola, purchasing about 5,000 new
personal and car radios from the com-
pany, according to a 2013 FCC doc-
ument. State Patrol also had to install
new radio towers in some areas,
including Paciic County, as well as
new equipment at dispatch stations.
In all, the project cost about $41 mil-
lion, according to a 2013 Vancou-
ver Columbian article. It took several
more years to get every patrol district
in the state ready to use P25.
“There was a study for the area
to see what coverage was here,”
Sgt. Bradford Moon, supervisor of
State Patrol’s Naselle Detachment,
Moon said going to P25 boosted
reception in some places where it was
very spotty before, and that commu-
nications among state cops and dis-
patchers have stayed the same or even
improved.
With P25, State Patrol can encrypt
transmissions, although patrol lead-
ers have told other media outlets they
would do so only rarely. Moon said
he does not think there has been any
deliberate effort to keep citizens or
other cops from listening — others just
don’t yet have the equipment required
to scan State Patrol’s frequency.
“I could be calling assistance on
this stop, and a deputy on the corner
would have to wait until my dispatch
calls his dispatch and asks for assis-
tance,” Moon said. “That was the inci-
dent the other night — I had a trooper
asking for backup, and (local agency
oficers) didn’t know about it until
it was relayed through the dispatch
centers.”
Trafic stop gone wrong
A surprising number of cops say
that pulling people over is the most
nerve-wracking part of their job.
“Every time you contact a car, you
don’t know who you’re contacting, or
what they might have in their history,”
Moon explained. “Sometimes it’s a
grandma. Sometimes it a guy wanted
for multiple crimes. You never know.”
Last week, Trooper Chris Stell
was patrolling near Naselle, when he
saw a truck with a burned-out head-
light around 8 p.m. He pulled the
driver over. According to Stell’s prob-
able cause statement, which the Chi-
nook Observer obtained through a
records request, the driver, Michael
Sean Murphy, 54, allegedly got out of
his pickup and charged toward Stell’s
patrol car.
“The driver appeared to be irate,
with his hand clenched,” Stell wrote.
Stell said he repeatedly ordered Mur-
phy to get back in the car, but Murphy
Tora Sushi employee arrested for sexually abusing co-worker
The Daily Astorian
4 pm ‘til gone
$8 .00
6PM “Karaoke Dave”
AS TO RIA
AM ERICAN LEGIO N
Cla tso p Po st 12
1132 Excha n g e S treet 325-5771
• What draws
them to
teaching?
• What are their
successes?
• What are their
___________________________ frustrations?
Sarah Kangas, a physical education
teacher at Warrenton Grade School
Read the words of our region’s
educators starting Friday in
The Daily Astorian.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___
Friday May 13 th
___________________________
___________________________________
With Baked Beans,
Vegetables, Coleslaw
and Cornbread
ALA Dan Reed
Teachers have
a big job and
a big impact
___________________________________
BBQ Pork
Rib Dinner
Maximo Cruz
Figueroa
learn of these situ-
ations we become
concerned about
whether there may
be other victims.”
Astoria
Police
Deputy Chief Eric
Halverson said.
Any
former
co-workers or vic-
tims that may have
information regarding Cruz
are encouraged to contact
Detective Thomas Litwin at
503-325-4411 or by email at
tlitwin@astoria.or.us.
‘It is not to the oficers’
advantage’
Neither Stell nor Murphy was
injured, but in his Facebook post,
Johnson said it could have turned out
differently, and it took longer than it
should have for help to arrive.
“We work with them frequently
and now we can’t hear what they say,”
Johnson said in the interview. “It’s
basically third-hand info, because it
goes from the trooper to their dispatch
to our dispatch to our (radios).”
Johnson and Moon each acknowl-
edged that local oficers will have to
depend more on cooperation between
state and local dispatchers for the fore-
seeable future.
“We’ve all known this was com-
ing,” Moon said. “It just happens to be
that some of these issues are coming to
light because we’ve actually done the
switchover now.”
Asked whether he thought the dis-
connect with local dispatchers had
placed state cops at risk, Moon thought
for a long moment before answering.
A career in law enforcement is always
characterized by numerous and con-
stantly evolving challenges, he said,
and a cop’s job is to igure out how to
overcome them.
“It is not to the oficer’s advantage
to have to go that way,” Moon said.
“However, this is one of the challenges
that we’re faced with until we can ind
a workaround, or other agencies are
able to have the same capabilities.”
W A NTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___
An employee at Tora
Sushi in Astoria was arrested
Tuesday for sex abuse and
harassment after allegedly
touching a co-worker inap-
propriately while training
her.
Maximo Cruz Figueroa,
31, of Seaside, is being
charged with third-de-
gree sex abuse and harass-
ment with a sexual com-
ponent. Astoria
Police
detectives received a report
Friday from the 26-year-
old victim, who had been
hired at Tora Sushi the day
before the incident. She
reported the inappropriate
touching.
Management at Tora
Sushi assisted with the inves-
tigation, accord-
ing to police, and
placed Cruz on
leave
pending
completion of the
investigation.
“Circumstances
like this often
go unreported to
police for various
reasons. When we
kept coming, stopping only when he
was a couple feet away.
Murphy allegedly accused Stell
of violating his civil rights, and
announced that he was a federal
marshal.
“Murphy then attempted to turn me
around and said he was placing me in
custody for harassment …” Stell said.
Stell pushed Murphy away. He was
eventually able to coax Murphy to get
back into his car and call for backup.
When other oficers arrived at the
scene, Murphy was arrested on sus-
picion of criminal impersonation and
obstruction of law enforcement.
Murphy was jailed and released,
according to Paciic County Jail
records.
____________________________________________________________________
BACK SUPPORTER MATTRESS SPECIALS!
FREE
Delivery *
Min. $599 Purchase
FREE
Set-Up *
FREE
Mattress
Recycle *
Advanced memory foam mattress featuring
triple action gel memory foam.
Unique combination of triple action gel memory
foam and an advanced coil support system.
SHEEP
LOCAL
QUEEN FLAT
SETS FROM
QUEEN FLAT
SETS FROM
T HE S LEEP
Y OU N EED
GUARANTEED
Warrenton
503-861-6085
Located next to Big 5
and Fred Meyer
HOURS: M-F 10-7; SAT 10-6; SUN 11-6
www.americasmattress.com
With 5 convenient locations NEWPORT | FLORENCE | COOS BAY| LINCOLN CITY | WARRENTON