Johnny Chin

I just saw this report on NY Fox 5 News (well it took them a little bit of time to post it to their website):
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/port-authority-police-radio-concerns-100118

I cannot believe that the NY/NJ Port Authority is not using a “more proprietary” radio frequency. Listening to the radio transmissions, it seems that they are on the same frequency as other civilian businesses using UHF radios. Whoever decided on using those “store bought” (well it has to be from a specialized 2-way radio dealer) radios is kind of a joke.

Literally, terrorists can simply get onto that frequency by purchasing one of those easily obtainable radios and keep it keyed up. The Port Authority police would basically have no 2-way radio service. Unlike the Fox 5 News report, it is not a “concern” it is a disaster waiting to happen.

Just imagine, if the TV station transmitters were easily available for purchase by civilians. All that a terrorist needs to do is have one of these transmitters on and send a blank signal (well, more exactly “radio noise”) and effectively it would kill the true signal and nobody would be able to watch a particular TV channel (over-the-air, that is). Now imagine that happening with the cell tower frequencies. Hmmm…. yeah, that is why those frequencies are restricted from civilians.

I think Homeland Security and the NYC Anti-Terrorism Task Force (maybe even the mayor and governors of both states) needs to force the Port Authority to resolve this issue ASAP. It is an easy fix. Just replace the radios and the repeaters. Keeping them UHF radios, would not require them to replace antennas (which can be more difficult). It really is a no-brainer, it is only some money. President Obama seems to be printing them out of the Treasury, so what is another truck load? At least these would actually save lives, unlike those full body scanners which can cause some unknown DNS damage (but that is another post).

So beware while driving through the NY/NJ tunnels and bridges. This issue seems to affect all of them.