Though it’s been 10 years since Ralph “Bucky” Phillips, the then 43-year-old fugitive and cop killer, was captured in Warren County, Pa., the lessons drawn from his escape and ensuing five-month manhunt are still worth noting.

“I call it the ‘lost summer,'” said Joe Gerace, Chautauqua County sheriff. “The initial phase was kind of comical for some with (Phillips) becoming a kind of folk hero. But that all came to a sudden halt when the first Trooper was shot in Chemung County. People at the end of summer were very upset and very much on edge … as were law enforcement because (we) were targeted.”

Gerace, who committed his department to ground and aerial searches during the manhunt, said he was not too fond of the way the search, which was predominantly led by the New York State Police, was conducted overall.

“The biggest error was that there was no incident command and the sharing of (intelligence) was, at times, absent between law enforcement agencies,” he said. “It wasn’t until the end of the manhunt when (finally) there was communication between all the entities involved. But going through the summer, it was terrible information-sharing. It just wasn’t the appropriate way to conduct a search of that magnitude.”

Gerace’s concerns were indeed brought up by State Troopers themselves in an operational review of the Phillips manhunt released in 2007.

According to the report, communication impediments were the “single greatest problem” and “most frequently cited complaint” during the review process.

“Communications problems adversely affected not only efficient deployment and control of personnel, but also the timely dissemination of information and intelligence to detail members,” the report stated. “Communications issues consistently generated the greatest level of concern and dissatisfaction among members assigned to the search detail.”

It also became evident very early in the investigation that Phillips and his family members were monitoring State Police radio traffic, according to the report. As a result, cellphones became the preferred method of communication, a decision which led to slow and often unreliable communications.

In terms of command and control, the report stated that the State Police station in Fredonia was a poor choice for the Troop A Command Post during the search.

“The facilities at SP Fredonia were not suitable for a long-term operation and featured communications problems that denied effective localized command and control to the Detail Commander,” the report stated. “Offices were cramped, not conducive to a free flow of information, and affected integrated planning and intelligence sharing. The ‘dual process’ of tracking information was less than ideal, and strongly suggests this method of information management was a primary reason many front line troopers and supervisors had a perception there was in sufficient command and control.”

A number of recommendations were listed in the report to address both these issues, as well as equipment, leadership and supervision, planning, intelligence and the use of specialized units.

Recommendations included having more than one mobile command vehicle equipped with essential portable communications capabilities.

“The need for multiple mobile command vehicles was clearly demonstrated during the Phillips manhunt when the Division’s only mobile command vehicle was diverted from the manhunt on two occasions, once for emergency response to flooding in the Southern Tier and once to the State Fair,” the report stated.

Another important recommendation was a greater emphasis on an organized information dissemination process to ensure that accurate, timely and consistent information is conveyed to agency personnel as well as personnel from outside agencies.