Frequency Problems For Camden Cops

A digital culprit traveling unlikely distances by atmospheric phenomena, confounding law enforcement -- sounds like science fiction, but it's not.

It's a phenomenon called "tropospheric ducting," and it's a problem for Camden County's police dispatch network, which handles emergency response in all but six county towns.

In scientific terms, the phenomenon occurs when layers of vast temperature variation form in the troposphere -- the atmosphere's lowest segment -- creating a "duct," which can trap radio waves and carry them hundreds of miles beyond their normal reach.

Communications officials said the dispatch center uses the same digital frequency as a Boston-area television station, WCVB. Camden officials blame the Federal Communications Commission for poorly planning signal frequency use.

A message left with the FCC on Friday was not immediately returned.

Twice this summer, a WCVB signal traveled more than 270 miles to Camden County from its origin in Needham, Mass. -- 220 miles beyond its normal reach -- disrupting communications in Camden briefly.

The most serious disruption was June 9. The station's signal interfered with police calls made from handheld radios and some patrol cars, creating what dispatchers say is a very dangerous situation.

"In this business, one time with one cop with one syllable that can't get through, that is unacceptable," Rick Connor, Camden County's technical services director, told the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill, N.J.

In order to fix the problem, either the TV station of the dispatch system must change frequencies, he said.

WCVB director of engineering Mike Keller said the problem should have been anticipated.

"I think what happened here is somebody underestimated," Keller said.

Because frequencies are often shared by county police systems, similar communications snafus could turn up in Burlington County. They have in Ocean County, where the necessary conditions for tropospheric ducting are prevalent along the coast.

"This is a very big deal," said U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, D-Haddon Heights, whose home district includes much of Camden County. Andrews said he is attempting to communicate with the FCC to get the problem corrected.

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Author: NBC10/AP