September 1990 POLICE PRACTICES: PENNSYLVANIA'S INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM No one can argue the benefits that effective communications systems provide to law enforcement. Even 60 years ago, Detroit, Michigan, Police Commissioner Rutledge, while addressing the International Association of Chiefs of Police at its 1929 convention, noted: ``Snaring criminals in a radio network, woven by broadcasting to radio-equipped cars, has become a matter of seconds...With the use of radio communication between Headquarters and the patrol cars, we are catching criminals red handed...Instead of trailing behind in the dust of the criminal, we are as nearly abreast of him as it is humanly possible to be.'' (1) Yet, with all the emphasis being placed on electronic systems and the technological advancements that have occurred since Commissioner Rutledge's speech, the extent of communication among law enforcement agencies to share information lags behind capabilities. Unfortunately, jurisdictional boundaries control interagency communication and cooperation. However, this is no longer the case in the State of Pennsylvania, which supports a statewide police emergency radio frequency. Using a multi-channel radio programmed with each frequency used in a specific location, officers can monitor operational radio transmissions and then initiate an immediate response, while being able to communicate directly with the agency having jurisdictional responsibility for the incident. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION To begin, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) purchased a 32-128 channel programmable mobile radio with the intent of expanding its own radio frequency resources. Then, each communications specialist within the 15 troop areas statewide contacted all governmental agencies within their individual areas to request permission to program the PSP radio with the frequency of those agencies. Once an agency granted permission to use its frequency, the communications specialist advised the PSP Communications Division of the appropriate frequency designation, the P.L. squelch code, if any, and a written authorization of the license holder to allow use of the frequency. PSP communications specialists received an overwhelming response to their initial inquiries. Over 300 police organizations within and surrounding Pennsylvania authorized the use of more than 500 police frequencies for interdepartmental communications. Even States adjoining Pennsylvania gave permission for their statewide emergency frequencies to be accessed on the PSP radio system. L.E.E.R.N. (Law Enforcement Emergency Radio Network) of Ohio, S.W.E.N. (Statewide Emergency Network) of Delaware, and the New York Felony Channel are now available to Pennsylvania State Police troopers working near these State borders. Obviously, it was not feasible, or necessary, for each troop to access all 500 frequencies. Therefore, commanders of local troops relied on their communications specialists to decide what frequencies would be included in their radio systems. The frequencies added by individual troops depended on local and/or regional needs. Many troops consolidated all their desired channel requests into a single troopwide radio program. However, commanders were not restricted in any way concerning their ability to communicate with other agencies. Some troops have as many as three different programs established for the respective stations that comprise their troop. In addition, along with local law enforcement agencies, some troops incorporated the National Weather Service Channel, the frequency for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, the Pennsylvania Turnpike repeaters frequencies, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources Forestry repeater channels. OPERATION Currently, the Pennsylvania State Police Communications Division is responsibile for managing 52 authorized radio programs used throughout the Commonwealth by troopers. No longer must troopers wait for information to be relayed through another agency's dispatcher to a PSP dispatcher and then to them. Now, they simply monitor the original conversation and converse directly with the dispatcher of the agency having jurisdictional responsibility. From the first day of operation, the interdepartmental communications system has aided in solving crimes, recovering property, and saving lives. For example, PSP troopers working the midnight shift in the Harrisburg area monitored the radio frequency of a nearby township police department. After obtaining a description of the car and occupants, the troopers positioned themselves near a burglary location. Within 10 minutes, they stopped the car, held the occupants for the responding officers from the township department, and recovered $10,000 of stolen property. All this occurred before the township dispatcher contacted the PSP dispatcher by telephone. In another instance, a DuBois trooper monitoring the county frequency overheard an ambulance driver enroute to a hospital radio discussing traffic congestion. The trooper conversed directly with the ambulance driver to identify the problem, and then went to the source of the congestion to clear a path for the ambulance. The patient, who was in critical condition, survived. CONCLUSION Communications is the life-blood of organizations, especially law enforcement organizations. Communications binds together individual entities within departments so that all their activities can be directed toward common departmental goals. This team effort produces organizational unity. Team efforts can be expanded statewide. With a direct interagency radio communications system, all participating Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies operate within a team concept. As a result, any barriers that existed between State and local law enforcement are coming down. After many years of coexisting, police agencies in Pennsylvania are finally talking. FOOTNOTE (1) V.A. Leonard, Police Communications Systems (University of California Press, 1938). ______________ Major Robert C. Hickes of the Pennsylvania State Police in Harrisburg provided the information used in this column.