Riley Co. Emergency Manager hopeful for quick restoration of service to radio communications

An investigation continues into a cybersecurity incident involving Riley County’s P25 emergency radio systems.

The incident was discovered Monday, prompting an emergency disaster declaration from the county commission, which allows the county to be able to request additional communications transmission resources from the State of Kansas. Emergency Management Director Russel Stukey says the county’s radio system is essentially computer controlled.

“It manages the radio traffic so that we don’t have to have as many antennas and repeaters at each site,” he said.

Additional support arrived from the Kansas Division of Emergency Management (KDEM) Monday evening when the state’s Communication on Wheels (COW) semi-trailer was deployed to Riley County. The COW is being used to augment and improve radio signal strength in the central part of the county, including the city of Manhattan.

The issue is impacting police, fire and emergency medical services, but not 911, according to Stukey, who says dispatchers are still able to receive calls and dispatch resources. The county is hoping to have the issue resolved within the next two weeks.

“There’s a lot more people getting woken up in the middle of the night when there’s a call and when the system is working properly because we’re having to broadcast the emergency call more widely and it can’t be as focused on which station actually needs to get that call,” he said.

No personal, financial or other information is associated with this incident. Stukey says the only information on those radio servers are radio ID numbers, frequencies and other radio data. The system is part of its own network not associated with the county’s typical internet network, that includes the county’s email server.

Stukey says the issue is being investigated by the FBI and local law enforcement.