Page:Hillsborough Taylor Interim Report Cm765.pdf/62

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CHAPTER 22
COMMUNICATIONS

303. One problem which impeded police control and the gathering of intelligence was the intermittent failure of communication by radio. There was the period of two or three minutes when the control room was out of radio contact. Even when that was remedied, it was only by using a hand set in the control room. This meant that control could not override any other messages. No effective radio communication seems to have reached control from the perimeter track at the relevant time. Mr Greenwood's request for the match to be stopped and various messages from Constables reporting the distress in the pens did not register. Likewise, communication from Leppings Lane to control was unreliable. Undoubtedly these breakdowns made it more difficult for those in command to make proper assessments and exercise effective command.

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