Communication Breakdown Haunting Bronx Court - wcbstv.com.wmv

Officers at one courthouse in the Bronx can't speak to each other, an issue that's inherently dangerous.
Court officers in the Bronx say their jobs, which are already dangerous,are made even more dangerous because of equipment that does not work.

They say their radios, vital to alert each other during incidents, have been a problem since the courthouse opened three years ago, endangering them and everyone who uses the courts.

It is a failure to communicate. Court officers in the Bronx say instead of hearing important information from other officers, they hear mostly static.

Court officers' union president-elect John Strandberg said the area in and around the court is inherently dangerous and when the radios don't work, everyone is at risk.

"This is the one place in the entire county of the Bronx that you bring together a lot of bad people. I worry that somebody is going to get seriously injured or killed," Strandberg said.

CBS 2 HD took two cameras to different locations with officers, recording each at the same time to see the problem firsthand. We found serious problems as neither officer could get past static and garbled communications.

It happened repeatedly at different locations. Officers simply could not communicate.

There have been incidents. Officer Tim Cowart called for backup during a potentially dangerous incident in a courtroom, but no one heard him.

"It's just very difficult. It can be very frustrating," he said.

And Officer Rick Sierra heard another officer call for help after a man attacked his girlfriend outside the courthouse, but because the call was garbled he ran the wrong way.

"I was trying to respond but was not able because I didn't know where it was at," Sierra said.

Officials from the Office of Court Administration said a fix is on the way, a new system that will cost $25,000. But when it will be installed is anyone's guess.

"Will the city pay for it? Will we pay for it? That's what it comes down to. Our budget is yet to be approved so we're on hold," the OCA's David Bookstaver said.

Around the country there have been incidents of violence both inside the courtroom and outside the courthouse. Some in the Bronx worry that it will take a tragedy here to finally fix the problem.

"I worry that somebody is gonna get seriously injured. We are trying to prevent that," Strandberg said.

Officers said that they sometimes use their own personal cell phones to communicate with each other when the radios don't work.

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