Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Upgrade sought in Dallas emergency communications

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2003 15:24:56 -0400

Upgrade sought in Dallas emergency communications

04/19/2003

By SELWYN CRAWFORD / The Dallas Morning News

If a terrorist attack occurs in North Texas, dozens of emergency personnel
from all levels of government would respond. But once at the scene, those
so-called first responders probably won't be able to communicate directly
with each other, creating a communications nightmare that could have
tragic consequences.

Although the technology exists for such a system – widely known in
emergency response circles as interoperability – lack of funding and other
obstacles make its implementation a rarity, not only in North Texas but
across the country.

A study released last week by the federally run Public Safety Wireless
Network revealed that only 14 states are considered to have full
communications abilities. Texas was not among them.

"Most of the larger areas [of the state] are looking into it and ... trying to
solve" the interoperability situation, said James McLaughlin, general
counsel and executive director of the Texas Police Chiefs Association. "To
get everybody on it, though, is expensive."

Dallas Police and fire crews have the capability to communicate with each
other, but as the number of agencies involved in a situation expands, so
do the communication problems.

Shuttle example

Officials point to the Feb. 1 breakup of the space shuttle Columbia as an
example in which interoperability would have been helpful. In that
instance, local police, the Texas Department of Public Safety as well as
NASA, the FBI and other agencies responded.

Mr. McLaughlin is one of several officials in Texas – including some from the
Dallas-Fort Worth area – looking for a solution. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas,
has met with first responders from across the state to discuss their needs
in case of a crisis. Concerns about communications always rank high on
the list.

"That was the thing they asked for – interoperability," said Don Stewart,
communications director for Mr. Cornyn. "So on our end, we're looking for
funding. We're trying to help."

By all accounts, coming up with the necessary dollars is the primary hurdle.
Mr. McLaughlin along with Tom Shehan, police chief at Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport, and William Taylor, police chief and director of public
safety for Rice University, recently met in Washington, D.C., with Mr.
Cornyn to address the matter.

In Dallas, officials are trying to find the $60 million they say is needed to
develop a fully functional system. That system would do more than enable
local entities to simultaneously talk to each other during a crisis.

"It would allow for responding agencies that are not normally here," said
Dan Scrivner, manager of communications for the city of Dallas, citing
federal and state agencies as examples.

Although some assume the push for interoperability began after Sept. 11,
2001, it actually began two decades ago after the crash of an Air Florida
jet into Washington's Potomac River, Mr. Scrivner said.

Efforts in Dallas started about two years before the Sept. 11 attacks when
emergency officials realized that the high-tech system "would allow us
some high-speed data transfer capabilities that we currently don't have,"
he said.

Officials in South Carolina, which the Public Safety Wireless Network
recognized as one of the top states in terms of interoperability, said they
have been working on their system for more than 10 years. The need
became apparent in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo left communication
capabilities in shambles.

"We have 60 percent of the state's population covered by agencies that
use this system," said George Crouch, South Carolina's wireless manager.
"By the end of this year, every county in the state ... will have the
capability to talk on this system. But it takes a long time to get this in
place."

Vacating channels

Officials say money isn't the only roadblock to interoperability. Some of the
space on the dedicated public safety channels that first responders use is
currently occupied by broadcast television channels 63, 64,68 and 69. In
North Texas it's KPXD, a PAX Network station on Channel 68.

Although the Federal Communications Commission has required that stations
using those channels vacate them by the end of 2006, there are caveats to the
FCC's order that could allow some stations to remain on those channels
indefinitely.

"We're still waiting on those channels to move," Mr. Scrivner said. "They're
occupying a large portion of the spectrum that we need."

Long-standing mutual aid agreements and current equipment allow local
emergency personnel to talk to each other, although it may not be as seamless
as everyone would like. But that is not the same as complete interoperability,
which would include agencies at the state and federal level.

"We don't want the public to go to bed tonight thinking their [emergency]
communications are in disarray, because they're not," said Mr. Scrivner, noting
that officials are working on a less expensive stopgap measure that would
allow dependable crisis communication capabilities.

"Yes, this is something that should be done, and we're all in favor of this
happening. But we are able to communicate with each other."

E-mail [email-masked]

http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/stories/041903dnmetradios.a444c.html

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