Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-21
POLICE WILL START
USING NEW RADIO
OUTFIT TOMORROW
Final Test of Station viii Be
Made at Hour After Mid
night Tonight.
SEVENTEEN SCOUT CARS
EQUIPPED WITH SETS
Officials at Nearby Points to Co.
operate With wPDW, Which Uses
500 Watts and 2,41O KilOcycles.

Radio Station WPDW, the Washing
y bn Police Departments latest threat to
criminals, is ready to 60 on the air.
within the next "a hours the station
viii BE flashing its orders and lookoutS
To the departments mobile forces in all
sections of the District, thus reducing,
as radio has done in police work in
other cities, the precious minutes head
way bandits depend on for escape.
Preliminary tests conducted last night
were pronounced satisfactory. In near
by Maryland and Virginia the stations
signals were picked up with clarity and
olume. A police car equipped with a
receiving set, cruising around In Rock
Greek Park, also received the signals
without interference.
One More Test Due.
One more rigid tel is to be given
the station, however, before it is for
mally commissioned in the police serv-
ice. This final test is scheduled at
o'clock tomorrow morning and II again
successful, WPDW will be ordered to
active duty.
The station will go into service with
out the formality of an ofacial christen-
ing or any other ceremony, in obedience
to the wishes of Maj. Henry @. Pratt,
superintendent of police. WPDW, he
said, was built for service, not for cere-
mony.
The most modern broadcasting equip
ment available has been put into the
station, which was erected with an APP
preparation of $1S,500 provided by Con-
RresS in the current appropriation act
The transmitter and control system are
in the tenth precinct station, on Park
road near Georgia avenue location
selected for its geographical position IN
regard to the various police precincts
The broadcasting room is at police
headquarters at 462 Louisiana avenue,
whence the radio messages Will be
flashed by remote control
Has 3OO-Watt Power.
Using a power of 800 watts, wPDW's
signals will easily blanket an area within
Q 5O-mile radius of washington, thereby
putting the Washington Police Depart
uaent in instant communication with
the police in nearby Maryland and Vir-
ginia. The station will transmit on the
short-wave channel of 2,410 kilocycleS,
q wave band reserved by the Federal
Radio Commission exclusively for radio
police work. This wave length puts
the station out of reception spectrum
Of the regular broadcast receiver and
the police messages viii be unheard to
all radio listeners except the owners
Of stort-wave receivers.
Special short-wave receivers have
been installed on II police cars that
viii form the modified dragnets. Three
Of the sets are on cars attached TO
police headquarters and the other IA
are on scout patrols, one at each OF the
IL police precincts. The sets have been
tuned to WPDW and sealed, so that
the men assigned to the radio patrols
can listen to nothing IN the air but
the flashes from police headquarters.
While cruising about the precincts
the scout cars will be in constant COM
Ynunication with police headquarters.
And II needed in concentrated search
for a bandit, the police in these ma
chimes can be modified in unit within
a brief period. Thus, the criminal who
depends on a quick getaway will run
afoul Of an instrument he has been un-
able to convert to his own use.
Nearby States to Aid.
The Police Department has made ar
ran9ements TO install receiving sets at
4 number of strategically located points
"a Maryland and Virginia. where the
authorities have pledged their cooper
alton In aiding In the search Tor
bandit who might get across the Dis
trict line ahead Of the radio cops"
These sets are 10 be placed in the
once Of Sheriff Charles S. Early at
Upper Marlboro, Md; the Maryland
state Police Satisfaction at Laurel, Nd;
the once of Chief of Police A. A. Mox-
lev at Rockville, Nd, and the Office Of
Sheriff Howard Fields in Arlington
County, Va. These sets are to be in
stalled soon and will give the Police
Department q wide area in which TO
reach out and pick up criminal at
tempting to make an escape.
The police radio system was designed
BY one Of the departments own radio
minded oficers-Pvt. James L. Kelly,
who has been placed in immediate
charge Of the station and its operation.
Except for the actual broadcasting
equipment, the station has been built
by policemen working under the super
vision Of Kelly.
When WPDW goes into operation,
Washington will be one Of the 40 cities
using radio for police work, and judg-
ing from reports 10 the Radio Com
mission, the results have been effective
in the capture of criminals Detroit,
Minneapolis, Dallas, Cincinnati, Column
bus and Cleveland are some of the cities
using radio. Michigan is the only
State to have a Statewide system In
Pennsylvania, however the State po-
lice have a number Of broadcast sta
tons, while New York City uses
service in connection with harbor po-
lice work.