INFORMATIONAL HEARING

SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON ANTI-TERRORISM POLICY

May 16, 2003
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Ahmanson Auditorium, University Hall
Loyola Marymount University
Westchester, California

 

AGENDA

I. Introduction and Welcome (10:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.)

• Senator Bruce McPherson, Chair – Senate Public Safety Committee
   
• Senator Debra Bowen, Chair – Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee

II. The Case for Interoperability (10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.)

• Steve Souder, Director
  Montgomery County, Maryland, 911 Emergency Communications Center
   
• Glen Craig, Executive Director
  California Alliance for Public Safety Communications 

III. Defining Interoperability (10:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.)

• Steve Proctor, Executive Director
  Utah Communication Agency Network (UCAN)
  With an introduction by:
  Ernest Van Sant, Deputy Director
  California Department of Corrections
   
• David L. Karmol, Vice President of Public Policy & Government Affairs
  American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
   
• Barry Hemphill, Director of Telecommunications
  California Department of General Services

IV. State and Local Progress Towards Interoperability
State Agencies (11:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)

• George Vinson, Director
  Governor’s Office of Homeland Security
   
• Dallas Jones, Director
  Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
   
• Greg Augusta, Assistant Commissioner
  California Highway Patrol
   
• Frank Goddard, Deputy Chief
  California Department of Forestry
  Local Agencies (12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.)
   
• Curt Monroe, Manager of Regional Communications System
  San Diego County Sheriff’s Office
   
• Captain Robert Sedita
  Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office
   
• Chief John Penido
  City of San Marino Fire Department
  President, Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs Association
   
• Lieutenant Bob Stevens
  Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department
   
• Captain Ron Boyd
  Los Angeles Airport Police Department
   
• Captain Don O’Keefe
  San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department

V. Public Comment

 

Public Safety Radio Interoperability

Background Paper

May 16, 2003

The Effect of Incompatible Communication Systems

Across the nation, public safety agencies often can’t even talk to each other when they’re jointly responding to an emergency situation. This inability to communicate makes it more difficult to coordinate an emergency response and it can, and has, cost lives. On September 11, 2001, New York City firefighters never received the warning from the New York City Police that the World Trade Center was going to collapse because their radios weren’t compatible with one another. First responders to the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing had to rely on runners to carry messages between command centers because the responding public safety agencies didn’t have compatible radio systems.

Most emergencies require more than just one public safety agency to respond to it, meaning the likelihood that the agencies will have incompatible radio systems is extremely high. In Los Angeles County alone there are 95 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and fire departments. Freeway car chases can involve the California Highway Patrol, as well as any number of city and county law enforcement agencies along the way, while an incident at the Port of Long Beach or the Port of Los Angeles could involve police, fire, sheriff, and Coast Guard offices. Interoperable communications systems are critical to ensuring a timely, coordinated and effective public safety response.

Why Radio Systems Are Incompatible

Public safety agencies have historically depended upon their own stand-alone radio systems and there’s been little effort to coordinate purchases among these independent agencies to ensure the systems were compatible with one another. Also, because public safety communication systems require radio spectrum, and the availability of that spectrum is limited and fragmented among many widely different frequencies, different incompatible public safety radio systems have developed over the years.

Public safety radio interoperability has varying levels. At one level, interoperability refers to the agencies’ ability to communicate with one another when responding to one particular incident. Relatively inexpensive technology exists to overcome this level of interoperability on a case-by-case basis. However, at a more sophisticated level, interoperability means the ability to communicate with other public safety agencies on a routine, day in, day out basis. This is a much more expensive proposition that requires agencies to coordinate their communication systems, operations, equipment purchases, and much more on a regional, if not a statewide, basis.

What Is Being Done

The September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have spurred efforts to achieve interoperability between public safety agencies. The U.S. Departments of Justice and the Treasury have created the Public Safety Wireless Network Program (PWSN), with the mission of enhancing public safety communications interoperability at the local, state and federal levels. PSWN provides technical, policy and planning assistance to state and local governments. Additionally, some federal funding has recently been made available and public safety agencies are already submitting grant requests.

The State of California has recognized the need for public safety radio communications interoperability. In 1997, the Department of General Services published a strategic plan for public safety radio communications, which recommended California begin the phased implementation of a shared, statewide public safety voice and data radio communication system. That plan was followed by a cost-benefit analysis, which recommended a program known as Public Safety Radio Integrated System Management, or PRISM. That program appears to have become a victim of competing budget priorities and a lack of support from state agencies, so as a result, it has yet to be enacted.

The bright spots for achieving interoperability are at the local level, where some agencies have forged ahead based on local needs. By most accounts, San Diego County has made the most progress at achieving interoperability, with over 190 local, state, and federal agencies now having the ability to communicate with each other.