Private/Professional Mobile Radioand Health
TETRA-TETRAPOL-ARCOPOLE-ASTRID- ANTARESBritish police officers
are suing the authorities
Recognition of illness and court cases in progress

www.nex-up.org

www.prestoncitizen.co.uk/news/4827926.Lancashire_police_officers_suing_force_over_radio_system/

31 12 2009

Lancashire police officers suing force overradio system
By Sam Chadderton
POLICE officers in Lancashire are suing their own force for injuries allegedly caused by their radio system. (ndlr :System Private/Profesional Mobile Radio TETRA).
Lancashire Police Authority is currently seeking legal advice and speaking with its insurers over compensation
claims brought by officers.
The Lancashire Telegraph can reveal that a number of civil claims have been made against the force, and thesuppliers of the equipment have since made changes to prevent ‘audio anomalies’.
The Constabulary has revealed it has already paid £20,000
to minimise the risk of future problems with theequipment.
Airwave is the name of the system used by officers tocontact each other via their TETRA radios.
[TETRA: a closed system of mobile phone communication thatexists in different versions in various European countries, usedby the police, rescue and fire services, the ministry of theinterior, etc. Identical to the mobile phone system used by thegeneral public with relay antennas, but functioning on different
pulsed frequencies with ascending and descending channels
encrypted and decrypted by each terminal [mobile phone]. It
allows direct communication with another user, like a walkietalkie, and has numerous other features specifically for
professional use – ed.]COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS:
Officers are suing Lancashire Constabulary for injuries
allegedly caused by their radio system

The Airwave equipment is supplied via the Home Office contract held jointly by Motorola, which provides thehandsets, and O2, which operates the mobile communications network aspect.
Lancashire was the first force to pilot the new Airwave communications technology and TETRA radios in 2001 andat the time, the federation’s local branch reported 176 users had reported sick with symptoms such as nausea,
headaches and stomach pains which they blamed on the new equipment.
The Health and Safety Executive was called in but declared there was no link.
At a recent meeting of the Audit and Standards Committee, the authority presented its statement of accounts
for 2008/09, which made reference to a ‘contingent liability in respect of Airwave liability claims’.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police Authority said: “The Authority has received a number of liability claims forinjury allegedly resulting from the use of the Constabulary’s mobile communications equipment. This is an
ongoing matter and the outcomes from the claims are not yet known.”
The Lancashire Telegraph put in a request under the Freedom of Information Act to find out how many officers
are claiming to have been badly affected by the Airwave system, but most of its questions were refused due to‘ongoing investigations’.
John O’Reilly, chairman of the Lancashire Police Federation, said: “When we first got it there were all sorts ofproblems, including breakdowns in communication and certain parts of the county being unreachable. But thenmost or all of the problems were ironed out over a period of time by improved technology.”______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________- EUROPEAN SURVEY On the biological and health symptoms experienced by people living close to relay antennas.