Port Authority Police Radio Concerns

MYFOXNY.COM - The union representing Port Authority police officers claims its officers are at risk because of the police radios.

Fox 5's Lisa Evers says the problem has been going on for more than a year and nothing's changed since a Fox 5 investigation last year highlighted the problem.

PBA President Paul Nunziato says, "It's out of control. One of my cops is going to get killed, someone in the public's going to get killed, it's unbelievable."

He's talking about police communications at the Port Authority's Hudson River crossings. They are high profile places that hundreds of thousands of drivers use every day.

At the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, and at the George Washington Bridge, anything can and does happen. And when it does, the Port Authority police union says cops could miss critical details of an emergency call. The reason? They share their radio frequency with lots of other non-police personnel. It's the cop version of using the same phone line with dozens of other people, and trying to have a coherent conversation. It's almost impossible.

Fox 5 asked Port Authority police officers with the union's help to record some transmissions back in November 2008 when it first reported on this issue. One recording showed officers trying to coordinate a chase but officers are stepping on each other’s transmissions.

The Port Authority declined to comment on camera, but after our repeated calls, issued a statement.

It says, in part, "...in 2009, great strides were also made regarding the deployment of a new port district-wide radio communications system dedicated to the Port Authority Police Department. We expect all of our police commands to transition to the new system shortly."