Authorizing a Joint Hearing for both City Council's Committee on Public Safety and City Council's Committee on Technology and Information Systems to hold public hearings to investigate the malfunction of the City of Philadelphia's 800 Megahertz Digital Radio System which occurred five times: once on March 25, 2004, at 8:59 P.M., then on May 18, 2004, at 9:04 P.M., again on July 9, 2004, at 6:30 P.M., and again on August 18, 2004, at 7:26 P.M., and finally on October 3, 2004, at 1:30 A.M.; and, in furtherance of such investigation, authorizing the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

WHEREAS, Philadelphia Police Officers have been placed in jeopardy when the citywide police radio system failed to function properly on at least five occasions, leaving them without their electronic lifeline to headquarters; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia Fire Fighters are being placed in jeopardy on a daily basis, because the citywide radio system does not have the capability to work underground or in certain high-rise buildings, leaving them without essential communication with their commanders and other firefighters; and

WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Fire Department has warned its Firefighters, by a memorandum dated September 30, 2004, that there are some 39 locations where the cell phone signals are interfering with their current 800 Megahertz Digital Radios; and

WHEREAS, On April 12, 2004, a Firefighter was trapped in a burning house, and as a result spent 11 days in the intensive care, suffered burns to his esophagus and suffered lung damage, after sending at least one unheeded Mayday distress call; and

WHEREAS, Fifty-four million dollars have been spent on a “State of the Art” communication system that has now failed at least five times, without an explanation or assurance that this failure will not re-occur; and

WHEREAS, While Motorola and its contractors, who installed this system, have expended much effort to address these problems, they have not been able to correct the cause of these failures; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Authorizing a Joint Hearing for both City Council’s Committee on Public Safety and City Council’s Committee on Technology and Information Systems to hold public hearings to investigate the malfunction of the City of Philadelphia’s 800 Megahertz Digital Radio System which occurred five times: once on March 25, 2004, at 8:59 P.M., then on May 18, 2004, at 9:04 P.M., again on July 9, 2004, at 6:30 P.M., and again on August 18, 2004, at 7:26 P.M., and finally on October 3, 2004, at 1:30 A.M.; and, in furtherance of such investigation, authorizing the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

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