Lancashire police officers suing force over radio system
The Citizen
POLICE officers in Lancashire are suing their own force for injuries allegedly caused by their radio system.
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 the suppliers 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 the equipment.
Airwave is the name of the system used by officers to contact each other via their TETRA radios.
The Airwave equipment is supplied via the Home Office contract held jointly by Motorola, which provides the handsets, 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 and at 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.
Read More : The Citizen
2012-09-10 05:05:45
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