(WBRE/WYOU) — The ambush of two state troopers in Susquehanna County in August once again raised questions about the communications problems between the state police and local police and other first responders.
28/22 News I-Team Reporter Andy Mehalshick went looking for answers and has a story you will only see on 28/22 News.
28/22 News confirmed that state troopers were able to communicate with each other, cruiser to cruiser, through the commonwealth's radio system, but they could not communicate directly with the local first responders.
State police commanders tell Mehalshick they are working to make sure they and local responders can communicate directly anywhere in the state.
The ambush took place on the morning of August 7 in Thompson Township; State troopers were responding to reports of a shooting on Route 171 in Thompson Township.
Investigators say Carmine Faino opened fire on troopers and local responders after he shot and killed his neighbor, Lori Wasko.
Troopers Joseph Perechinsky and William Jenkins were seriously wounded.
The I-Team was given rare access to the State Police Communications Command Center near Hershey.
28/22 News talked with the people who coordinate the state's radio system and work to set up communications with the state's 67 counties. Major Mark Magyar heads up the division.
"It's not like that incident occurred and all of a sudden the State Police said, 'Hey, we we not able to communicate with municipal agencies that were responding.' A knee-jerk reaction. We have to do something real quick and, now it's operational that's not the case whatsoever wasn't ther case. We hear their concerns and understand their concerns, and obviously, our goal, the 63 911 centers across the state; we want to have interoperability with all of them," Major Magyar stated.
Major Magyar tells 28/22 News on that day, a state police dispatcher was on the phone with a Susquehanna County 911 dispatcher who was relaying information to local responders.
He says at that time, state police had been in talks with Susquehanna County 911 to set up what's known as an "interoperability agreement."
That would allow for direct communication between state and local agencies. It's now in place in Susquehanna County.
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"I'm happy to report, as of the middle of September, that agreement and the technology asset of It have been implemented," Major Magyar continued.
The counties marked in green on this map show the counties that have direct communication with state police; the counties are in the process of setting it up.
"It's not necessarily a technical problem to accomplish the goals. It's typically a people problem getting people that are willing to work with you to figure out the challenge and how we overcome them to get to the end goal to being able to talk to one another," Statewide Interoperability Coordinator Holly Caudill stated.
The state police commanders tell 28/22 News that they are constantly upgrading their radio communication system, adding and improving cell towers, and say they have about 95% coverage in the commonwealth and admit Pennsylvania is a challenge because of its mountains and remote areas.
In the days ahead, 28/22 News will take a look at the technology PSP is implementing to help keep people safe.
