Something was different Monday morning as my workday started at 3:00.  It took a few minutes to figure out what it was.  Then it hit me... the scanners were quiet.  That happens sometimes on Mondays.  The weekend sports guys from time to time have turned down the scanners.  The police radio calls can be annoying, but having been in this biz for nearly 20 years, you learn to drown it out and listen for key phrases... none bigger than "officer down".  This time, I couldn't blame the weekend crews.  The scanners were up and scanning.. but there is nothing coming through.  Turns out, there won't be anything for reporters and scanner enthusiasts to listen to.  The Milwaukee Police Department has officially switched over to its new digital system.  It's called Open Sky radio.  The system was purchased years ago and MPD has been working to get the bugs out. 

It's the bugs that has some officers worried.   I talked to a few cops who say there are "dead spots" in the system where no signal comes through.  They admitted that the old analog system wasn't perfect.  Sometimes you couldn't understand what an officer said over the radio, but one thing often did cut through the static.... a sense of urgency.  A tone of the call, not necessarily the words could often cut through any static issues in communicating when an officer was in trouble.

A quick check of the Googles shows other Milwaukee cops are talking too.  Badger Blogger is taking their responses.   If you have a comment, especially if you are man or woman in blue, please comment below...

UPDATE

We did a story about this Thursday on Wisconsin's Morning News...

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn has sent a memo to his officers (read it here) concerning their new police radios. After nearly a decade of trying to get the bugs out, this week the department made the switch from the analog radios to the digital OpenSky system. Trial runs of the system showed numerous problems including "dead spots" where the radios don't work.  Police officers have been complaining loudly about the system on internet message boards. The chief's memo says he's committed to the officers safety and they've worked with the company to fix many of the problems. He also urges the officers to report any problems they have.

Chief Flynn says they can't discard the system, which has cost 17-million dollars in taxpayer money. From the memo: " as frustrating as the change process has been, I am simply not in a position to discard Open Sky. This has been a seven-year project that has cost over $17 million in taxpayer money. It is a sunk cost. lowe you, as police officers and taxpayers, my best efforts to get a value return on that investment, one that simply cannot be remade, in the current economic environment, with new money."

Other communities, however, have ashcanned the system though. After many of the same problems, the city of New York ditched OpenSky, canceling a 2-billion dollar contract.

I spoke with the new President of the Milwaukee Police Association, Mike Crivello, about this.  Crivello says he's aware of the officer's concerns, but says he trusts that their safety and the safety of the public is the top priority of Chief Flynn and that decisions concerning the radio and anything else will be made in that regard. 

 We talked about this on WMN with MPD communications head Captain Andra Williams... take a listen..