Subject: [NEXTEL-1] The Goal: Stay In Touch

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 06:14:23 -0400

The Goal: Stay In Touch
Safety Agencies Seek Way To Communicate

April 17, 2003
By TRACY GORDON FOX, Courant Staff Writer

South Windsor Police Chief Gary K. Tyler dreams of a
regional communications system that would allow
firefighters, emergency medical workers and police to
keep in touch in the event of a terrorist attack or other
disaster.

"If we roll into some place, wouldn't it be nice if we were
on the same frequency?" Tyler asked. "None of these
places can talk to one another. We've been talking about
this for 30 years and it hasn't happened yet. The
technology is there. It just costs money."

It is money that Connecticut and 35 other states either
have not spent or received to mesh their communications
capabilities, a critical step in responding to a terrorism
incident, according to a federal study released last week.

Just 14 states received passing marks on the National
Interoperability Scorecard released by the Public Safety
Wireless Network , a joint project of the U.S. Justice and
Treasury departments. The study measured
improvements over the past two years in the ability of
public safety agencies to communicate with one another.

It measures, for example, whether police and firefighters
can talk on the same frequency as emergency medical
workers and public works employees during a major
incident.

So far, not all in Connecticut can.

"They've got things in the works, but that hasn't brought
them far enough," said Rick Murphy, program manager for
the Public Safety Wireless Network, based in Virginia.

Connecticut has one of the largest homeland security
offices in the nation, with 32 employees, but has not
allocated as much money for shared communications as
other states, according to the study.

Connecticut currently is spending about $600,000 to
purchase 700 portable radios that will operate under the
state police 800 MHz radio system that covers 98 percent
of the state. The handheld radios will be given to police
and fire chiefs in all 169 towns, and training will begin at
the end of the month.

"That's a drop in the bucket," Tyler said. "Who is going to
have the radio? Me? One guy can talk to them. I mean,
c'mon."

But George Pohorilak, director of Connecticut's statewide
emergency telecommunications system, said he believes
the state has made "significant progress."

"Every police chief, fire chief and head of EMS and every
town will be given radios to access the statewide
network," Pohorilak said.

Most urban public safety agencies in the state have or are
beginning to implement 800 MHz radio systems that will
interface with the state police system. Most rural public
safety agencies operate independent regional radio
systems in the very high frequency band.

"You can't carry all the systems on one radio," said Robert
Kelley, manager of Tolland County Mutual Aid.

Rep. Stephen D. Dargan, D-West Haven, said he is
proposing legislation that would give state and local
officials funding to study how to improve compatibility. He
said he saw the problem firsthand in West Haven last
year, when a gas explosion killed two people at a
condominium complex, and police and fire officials could
not communicate by radio with public works and other
town agencies.

"We need to come up with something more
comprehensive than passing out hand-held radios,"
Dargan said. "Besides equipment, the most important
thing we need to deal with is the communication aspect."

Brian Mattiello, undersecretary of the Office of Policy and
Management, said the hand-held radios are meant to be
a short-term fix for the state's communication problems.
Other things that are being done include providing 100
mobile data computer terminals to public safety agencies
across the state and the inception of a state
"interoperability" committee.

Interoperability is not a new concept. While it has received
much attention since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the
issue first was thrust into public consciousness in 1982,
when a jetliner crashed into the Potomac River in
Washington, D.C., and emergency responders were
unable to communicate with one another.

"We got a rude awakening in the early '80s," Murphy said,
adding that the Public Safety Wireless Network began
rating states for interoperability in 1996. But the effort
began in earnest after Sept. 11.

The 14 states that got high marks in the study are
Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan,
Minnesota, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. They spent the
most money or were able to garner the most federal funds
for shared radio systems.

For example, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah brought
an infusion of $310 million from the federal government to
create a seamless communications network. It is shared
by 101 agencies, serves 80 percent of the population and
processes 62 million calls a year.

Steven Proctor, director of Utah's communications
network, said he is not surprised more states have not
upgraded their systems because integrating agencies
often is the most difficult thing.

"Public safety communication traditionally resides in a
police department or a sheriff's department and it's an
own-and-control type of thing," Proctor said. "The only way
to do it is to sit down and work together. And that's a new
notion in the public safety world."

Tyler and other public safety officials in Connecticut say
they would like to see more federal money.

"It would be nice if all these billions of dollars actually
trickled down," Tyler said. "If they came out tomorrow and
said here is $15 million for a pilot regional program, we
could jump on it tomorrow.

"We have a site in mind. We have the technology. All we
need is the money. It is not going to happen until we have
another, God forbid, attack."

http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-nocommun0417.artapr17,0,5932875.story?coll=hc-headlines-local

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