Fire Union Demands Inquiry Into Contract for New Radios

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March 25, 2001
Fire Union Demands Inquiry Into Contract for New Radios
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM

The controversy over the Fire Department's new digital hand-held
radios deepened yesterday, as the firefighters union called for an
investigation into how the department put in place a system that the
union says it failed to properly test.

The president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, Kevin
Gallagher, held a news conference to urge Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani
and the City Council to conduct the investigation, saying he was
deeply concerned for firefighters' safety.

On Wednesday, the department's 2,700 new radios were taken out of
service. Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen had said that he was
taking the action because a distress call from a firefighter trapped
in a burning house in Queens on Monday went unheard by some of his
colleagues.

''We should not have New York City firefighters out in dangerous life-
threatening situations with faulty or untested equipment,'' said Mr.
Gallagher, whose union represents the city's 8,000 firefighters.

''Let's put blame where it belongs, starting with an outside
investigation into who in the Fire Department ordered or authorized
the purchase of these radios and who made the decision to put them
into the field without a proper evaluation of this essential life-
saving equipment,'' he said.

Mr. Gallagher's said his concerns were in some measure intensified by
inconsistencies between statements Mr. Von Essen made at a news
conference the commissioner held Wednesday and details that emerged
later about the contract.

Mr. Von Essen said at the news conference that the contract for the
new radios was worth $4.5 million and that fire departments in Boston
and Chicago were using the same product. But a report Friday night by
WNBC-TV News said that the overall contract for the new Motorola
digital communications network was worth $33 million and that the
other cities' departments did not use the system.

Yesterday, Mr. Von Essen said in a prepared statement that he has
ordered an internal investigation ''concerning the testing and
placement of the radios in the field.''

A senior adviser insisted that the commissioner had not intended to
mislead firefighters or the public when he spoke Wednesday about the
value of the contract and the use of the radios by other departments.
The adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that
information had been hastily compiled because the decision to announce
that the radios were being taken out of service was an abrupt one. As
a result, he said, Mr. Von Essen had received bad information from his
own staff.

''We're guilty of putting out some erroneous information, but there is
nothing to hide with the whole contract,'' the adviser said,
acknowledging that the entire contract, over a period of several
years, was worth $33 million, adding that as a result of the internal
confusion, there would be ''some personnel changes.''

The confusion arose because the radio system involves many components
and the radios themselves cost about $7 million. An error in
calculation resulted in the $4.5 million figure, the adviser said.

Under the contract, the department is also set to purchase hand-held
radios for the city's Emergency Medical Service, which is part of the
Fire Department. In addition, the contract covers radios for fire
trucks and ambulances, battery chargers and other equipment, the
adviser said. He said confusion arose because the new radios are
similar to radios used in Boston and Chicago, but the ones in those
cities are on an analog rather than a digital network like the one in
New York.

Sunny Mindel, a spokeswoman for Mayor Giuliani, said the mayor would
not conduct an independent inquiry because he ''is satisfied and
confident with'' Mr. Von Essen's response to the problems.

Sara Rutkowski, a spokeswoman for Peter F. Vallone, the City Council
speaker and a likely candidate for mayor, said the Council's Fire and
Criminal Justice Committee will look into the issue. ''Clearly, the
City Council will be holding hearings to examine how this could have
happened,'' she said.

Alan G. Hevesi, the city comptroller who has announced his candidacy
for mayor, said yesterday that he decided late Friday to do a
preliminary review of the contract. Mr. Hevesi said he was conducting
the review at the request of the union that represents the Fire
Department's 2,500 lieutenants, captains and deputy chiefs, the
Uniformed Fire Officers Association, which has been feuding with Mr.
Von Essen.

''I took the position that it was a legitimate request and that we
would investigate it,'' Mr. Hevesi said, ''but it's much too soon to
prejudge this, we're just looking into it.''

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