TRW awarded contract to enhance LAPD emergency communications.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 24, 1997--TRW (NYSE: TRW) has been awarded a $5.8 million contract by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to design an integrated Emergency Command Control and Communications System (ECCCS) that will enhance the department's existing emergency dispatch services.

The new system will integrate advanced technologies to increase system reliability and survivability and improve call-taking services and field communications.

The award was made by LAPD's Emergency Command Control Communications System Division, which oversees one of the largest public safety communications systems in the world.

"TRW's recent experience in completing a comprehensive public safety systems upgrade for the City of Atlanta prepared us to assist the City of Los Angeles in improving its emergency dispatch system," said Grady Wright, vice president and general manager, TRW Integrated Engineering Division. "We are also currently under contract with the City of Baltimore and Montgomery County, Maryland, to improve their communications systems."

Work on the design and specification phase of this 22-month, firm fixed price contract is being performed in TRW's field office next to Los Angeles City Hall, with a core staff of 11 TRW and subcontractor employees and four customer technical engineers. This project is part of the City's $235 million Proposition M communications system upgrade for the LAPD.

TRW's responsibilities for the new communications system include the design of two new dispatch center facilities, which will be located in the metropolitan and San Fernando Valley areas of the City. Under normal operation, each facility will share city-wide dispatch requirements and provide back-up for the other facility.

TRW also will design system enhancements including new dispatch center consoles, improved 9-1-1 and non-emergency telephone service, enhancements to the LAPD's computer-aided dispatch systems, and new interfaces to the Department's voice- and data radio systems.

The new facilities and systems, expected to be on-line and operational by the year 2001, will replace the current LAPD dispatch center located in City Hall East (downtown Los Angeles), which handled approximately five million calls last year. The new systems will be designed to improve the existing level of service and provide expandability to service the increased volume of calls anticipated in the future.

TRW's teammates on this contract include three Los Angeles-based companies: DMJM will perform architectural and engineering design services for the two new facilities. Third Wave Corp. and Cordoba Corp. will provide systems engineering support.

"The City Project Team is excited over the opportunity to partner with TRW in this final, critical element of the ECCCS Enhancement Program," said Linda Bunker, ECCCS program manager, LAPD. "We are confident that the partnership will be successful in providing the citizens of Los Angeles with the improved 9-1-1 services promised with the passage of Proposition M."

TRW Inc. provides advanced technology products and services to the automotive and space and defense markets worldwide. The company's sales in 1996 were $9.86 billion. -0-

For LAPD information, contact: Rich Hecht, 213/847-4732

CONTACT: TRW Inc., Fairfax, Va.

Linda Javier, 310/812-4105 or

Al Frascella, 703/803-5353