Misunderstandings Could be Triggered by Delco Emergency Radio Vulnerabilities

By

Delaware County Emergency Services Director Timothy Boyce.
Image via Thomas Hengge, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Delaware County Emergency Services Director Timothy Boyce.

Delaware County’s emergency radio system is vulnerable to attacks like one that happened last year in Chester when a voice suddenly spouted racial slurs and warnings, threatening to kill an officer on patrol and his family, writes Vinny Vella for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The transmission came from a resident with a cheap, handheld radio who was able to tap in.

Vulnerabilities let criminals listen in, and there are dead zones.

In 2016, a Folcroft police officer was wounded when he couldn’t get his calls for help transmitted to emergency dispatchers.

There is $6.2 million in state funding to upgrade the emergency radio system –the last in the Philadelphia area to use weaker, outdated signals interrupted by television broadcasts.

Emergency Services Director Tim Boyce said the funding is helpful but doesn’t cover the full $50 million needed to bring the system up to safe, modern standards.

“The consequences for someone saying racist or threatening things over the police radio and the community not trusting that it wasn’t an officer are enormous,” Boyce said in a recent interview. “And if we don’t address this today, we own the consequences.”

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about ongoing efforts to upgrade the county’s 911 system.  

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