General Policing Issues
Update on the Airwave Project
The new £2.5 billion digital police radio system for the UK,
Airwave, is designed to deliver clear reception, secure voice transmission
and greater radio coverage than the analogue wavebands we currently
use.
Scientific opinion remains divided on the long term health effects
on Airwave users and the sighting of masts. The Scottish Police Federation
recognises the value of Airwave in terms of greatly improved communications,
and therefore greater officer safety. However we will continue to
remain cautious and vigilant on the unknown possibilities on health
of this new technology.
We understand the huge potential operational benefits the new systems
can provide however no one can categorically state whether the system
is safe or unsafe. There is though one thing certain, the Scottish
Police Service needs a new communications system.
The new Airwave radio systems for the Scottish Police Service is currently
reaching the point of implementation in Scotland. The number of forces
UK wide that have now achieved `Ready For Service` status (`RFS`)
stands at 40 with the number of users currently 50,000.
On 16th July 2004 Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary became the first
Scottish Force to become `RFS`, some 15 days later than was scheduled,
and the current `Go Live` target date is currently 4th October 2004.
The other seven Scottish Forces schedules are as follows:-
Ready For Service Schedule – Scottish Forces
The Ready for Service Schedule together with the forces and O2’s
current assessment is as follows –
Force RFS Date Force Assessment O2 Assessment
Dumfries & Galloway RFS achieved - -
Lothian & Borders 9th September 2004 Red Green
Central Scotland 1st October 2004 Amber Green
Fife 21st October 2004 Amber/Red Amber
Strathclyde 15th November 2004 Red Red
Tayside 10th December 2004 Green Green
Grampian 1st March 2004 Green Green
Northern 25th March 2005 Amber Amber
Whilst there has been no change to the Ready for Service Dates previously
agreed there are increasing concerns within ACPOS on the contractors
ability to achieve the target dates. There can now be no doubt whatsoever
that the contractors have an extremely challenging programme if they
are to deliver all of the Scottish Forces to RFS as scheduled.
Emergency Button
However there are now a number of concerns that although may be small
in total are potentially very serious, the one in particular that
gives us concern is that surrounding the use of the emergency buttons
which are located on the vehicle sets and the hand held radio sets.
This problem was identified during testing in the Lothian and Borders
force area. It had been found that there was a failure in the use
of the emergency button.
Tests have shown that the emergency button cannot be relied upon in
that the first 8 seconds of audio from the initiator of the emergency
call will not be received by at least one colleague in certain circumstances
and it is true to say that the user who is unaware of the emergency
call may be the nearest assistance. As yet the cause of the fault
is unknown. Given the circumstances the Scottish Police Federation
have made clear we will not support the system until this fault is
completely rectified. This position was also supported by the Scottish
Airwave Project Board and was debated fully at a recent Project Board
meeting. Without exception the view of those present was that there
will be no further agreement to RFS in Scotland whilst this issue
remains outstanding. This decision was not taken lightly, but the
fact that there are other issues currently live as well as non-identification
of the cause, makes it impossible to move forward until this issue
is resolved.
Air to Ground
The air to ground project (communications with aircraft/helicopter)
is now also behind schedule. Whilst the interim solution is being
implemented in a number of English forces it is thought that the permanent
solution may be quite some time away.
Health and Safety
Since the inception of the Airwave project health and safety has always
been paramount and to date there is no evidence to suggest that the
system is dangerous to the health of the user. The Scottish Police
Federation demands for health monitoring have been accepted and we
welcomed the Government’s agreement to fund a 15 year health
monitoring study of police Airwave users. A £5million study
will be conducted by the Imperial College London. It includes both
individual health monitoring and referrals.
This safeguard study is something that we see as necessary to protect
against the unknown.
Norrie Flowers
Chairman
