Emergency Radios Jammed By TV, South Jersey Officials Complain

GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NJ (CBS) -- Digital television, with its high resolution and wide screen pictures, may be great for viewers, but it's become more of a pain on the public safety front -- at least in one South Jersey county.

Depending on the weather, digital TV stations as far away as Connecticut and North Carolina are sometimes interfering with Gloucester County's emergency radio system.

County freeholder director and New Jersey state senate president Steve Sweeney says it sometimes gets so bad that calls for help can't get out:

"You're going to be sitting home with a great TV picture, but God forbid if you need to dial 911 because the ambulance or the police officer or the fire truck might not be coming."

The final straw for Sweeney: plans for a new TV station on Long Island, NY, using some of the same radio band they need in Gloucester County.

To be fair, this is not just a local problem. Similar complaints have been made across the country to the Federal Communications Commission, which says they are looking into it.

The answer could be moving Gloucester County's radio system to another band, which would cost about $20 million.  And the county says it will do that if the feds pay for it.

Reported by David Madden, KYW Newsradio.