New York – Unclear instructions and radio problems hindered the massive manhunt for a fugitive who killed one trooper and wounded two others before his recapture, according to a state police review issued Friday.
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The internal report also said last year’s search for Ralph “Bucky” Phillips relied too heavily on an elite unit of the New York State Police. But, it said, none of the problems significantly affected the hunt’s outcome.
The search involved nearly 1,400 members of the state police, along with hundreds of officers from other agencies.
The review said field commanders did not clearly communicate instructions. It also said deficiencies within the state police radio system_ and the belief that Phillips and acquaintances were monitoring dispatches_ led commanders to use cell phones to convey assignments, a decision the report called “an error.”
Based on 1,390 interviews, the review also found commanders leaned too much on the state police Mobile Response Team, whose members were not always immediately available to pursue sightings of Phillips and other major leads. [Buffalonews]