Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Hosts Interoperability Conference- The National League of Cities

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 17:24:20 -0400

Nextel Hosts Interoperability Conference- The National League of Cities
by Lance Davis
Posted: April 28, 2003

Nextel hosted more 200 representatives from local, state and federal governments in
Washington, D.C., last week to discuss the importance of interoperability.

Communications networks that allow emergency managers to talk to police, fire and other
first responders within a city or region has become an important topic since the Sept. 11,

2001, terrorist attacks. Nextel and Motorola are among a few communications companies that

specialize in interoperability.

NLC has called upon the federal government to close the longstanding interoperability gaps

that have blocked cities and towns from having effective communication systems. NLC
strongly supported the efforts of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to secure funding for
interoperability communications in the FY 2003 wartime Supplemental Appropriations bill.
The earmarks for equipment total $109.5 million.

For several months following the attack on the Pentagon, Nextel, in cooperation with
Motorola,
supported numerous public safety organizations in that area with wireless communications
services. Organizations included the Baltimore City Police Department and U.S. Park
Police,
Arlington and Prince William County, Va., Fire Departments, American Red Cross, National
Guard, FBI, Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), U.S. Marshals
and countless others.

During the keynote address, Michael Byrne, the Washington, D.C. region liaison to the
Department of Homeland Security, and James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) during the Clinton Administration, discussed the need for
accurate communications between first responders in the field and command centers.

Byrne, a former New York firefighter, related his own experiences during the 1993 World
Trade Center bombing, when hundreds of firefighters and police officers descended on the
scene to assist victims and to secure the buildings.

At one point during the operation, Byrne said his company received a call that people were

stuck in an elevator on the 44th floor of the tower.

“It wasn’t until after we arrived on the 44th floor that we were told the call came from
the other
tower,” he said.

Likewise, Lee discussed the problems with communicating with numerous agencies during
the 1994 Mississippi River flood that affected eight states and about 900 counties and the

1995 the Oklahoma City bombing.

“There were literally hundreds of local and federal investigators on the scene there
(Oklahoma City) — FBI, ATF, FEMA and local and state authorities — and the only way we
could communicate with each other was with notes written on scraps of paper,” Witt said.
“In
some cases, we are still doing that today.

“Since 9/11, our roles and responsibilities are greater, and we must use technology to
enhance our capabilities,” Witt said.

Later, during a roundtable discussion, panelists said they thought cities and regions were

doing better at developing processes and procedures for interoperability than the federal
government.

Of the challenges facing local and regional emergency managers — according to Bernard
Forsythe, retired director of the Montgomery County, Md., major crimes division; Sam Russ,

executive director of the tactical communications division for the U.S. Customs Service;
Charles Werner, Charlottesville, Va., deputy fire chief; and Peter LaPorte, the director
of
Washington, D.C.’s emergency management agency — departmental cultures are the
biggest obstacles facing departments that want to implement an interoperable
communications system.

“The truth is that the police and fire cultures are very different, and will remain so,”
said
Werner. “For us it is frustrating when the information we need isn’t forthcoming. But we
also
realize to fix the problem, the communications have to be expanded to all the departments,

that this is a joint venture.”

Russ also said that his department also faces the challenge of coordinating communications

between the local authorities and the various federal agencies charged with protecting
U.S.
borders and ports of entry.

“This presents a whole range of communications challenges for us,” said Russ. “In the near

term, we have the technology fixes … part of our problem is how we work with the local
authorities and how we move between what we do at the federal level and what they do at
the
local level.”

LaPorte said that public safety and health agencies shouldn’t spend their time looking for
a
“special button” that will solve all communications problems.

“Instead, you should continue working with your regional and private partners to solve
problems and to find out what resources are available. A disaster can take place at any
time,
and it takes a true commitment to be prepared,” said LaPorte.

http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/newsroom/nations_cities_weekly/display.cfm?id=8E89E28D-7774-45C6-8CB0D3F6A264D044