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The Philadelphia police radio system was getting static again.
The network went silent Tuesday night, leaving officers unable to communicate.
The radios were silenced all over the city Tuesday night for almost an hour, meaning officers couldn't communicate with each other or with dispatchers.
"The main concern is the safety of the officers on the street and the safety of the community. I mean right now you can't go out there and operate, especially on a hot summer night in the middle of a heatwave with no radio system," John McNesby, of the Fraternal Order of Police, said.
The police department said the radio system went down at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and there was radio silence for 50 minutes. Officers not already with a partner were doubled up and they were instructed to use cell phones whenever possible.
Police said there were no incidents and everyone stayed safe while the radios were down.
The problem has happened before over the last few years. Motorola, the company that built the system, spent the night trying to find and fix the problem.
The FOP calls the radio system a $52 million failure.
"We're not protected out there, our officers are not safe. If the radio crashes, I don't want to hear it's for a minute whether it's three minutes, whether it's four minutes, it only takes five seconds for something catastrophic to take place," McNesby said.
New Castle County police in Delaware have gone to their backup radio system as well after the main one went down after midnight.
Technicians are working on the problem.
But New Castle County police are able to contact each other.
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