Saturday, May 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Highway Patrol radio frequencies unlicensed

The Highway Patrol has been using its new $14 million communications system for several years, despite the fact that no one at the agency ever applied for or received approval from the federal agency that regulates radio frequencies, authorities said Friday.

An internal audit discovered the mistake late last year, Highway Patrol Capt. Chris Perry said.

"We found that none of the frequencies we were using had any permanent licensing," he said.

He said the agency notified the Federal Communications Commission this spring of the violation. The FCC, which must approve the use of radio frequencies, could levy fines as high as $10,000 a day for each of the 140-plus frequencies the Highway Patrol has been using for more than three years.

The fines could total $1 billion. "When the fine is figured out, it could be that high, but it's highly unlikely," Perry said.

The origins of the blunder date back to 1996, when the Highway Patrol started looking to replace its outdated radio communications system.

The system went online the next year. It was upgraded two years later when the Legislature appropriated more money, Perry said, at a total cost of $14 million.

Last year, Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety Director Richard Kirkland ordered an audit of the Highway Patrol's radio department, and the lack of licenses was discovered.

An investigation was started, Perry said, and the Nevada Division of Investigations' report should be done soon. It will be forwarded to the state attorney general's office, which will decide whether any charges will be filed.

He said no one has stepped up to take the blame for the blunder. The Highway Patrol's radio manager has since retired, and the contract of a private company that worked on the system has expired.

"You know," he said, "there's nobody left here who actually built this system."

He said the Highway Patrol has proposed a solution to the FCC that would allow the agency to use its current equipment, and so would not cost taxpayers any money, other than whatever fines might be imposed. It has not yet been approved.