Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) -Thursday

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 02:09:44 -0400

Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO)

2003 Annual Conference
Thursday

The last day of the conference featured a "Super Session" describing radio
operations during last year's DC-region sniper shooting, and the swearing in of
the new APCO board during the evening banquet.
There was also a full schedule of educational sessions, including a status report
from APCO's task force assigned to study staffing issues.

Steve Souder has presented sessions before on disasters--he was director of the
Arlington County (Virg.) comm center when terrorists struck the Pentagon in 2001.
He moved to the Montgomery County (Md.) 911 Emergency Communications Center not
long after, and was director there last October when a series of sniper shootings
terrorized the region. At today's morning educational session, Souder was joined
by Bruce Blair, radio systems manager for the county's police department at the
time, to explain how the shootings were handled.

You'll recall that 13 persons were shot, 10 fatally, over a three-week period last
October, starting in Montgomery County, but ranging into the District of Columbia
and four counties of Maryland. There were 17 agencies directly involved in the
investigation, which included local, state and federal agencies, as well as
civilian and military agencies. Almost 8 million
residents were potential victims of the attacks--including the communications
personnel themselves. According to Souder, the incidents impacted the region's
economy and quality of life.

Souder recalled that the 800 MHz trunked radio system used by Montgomery Council
in support of the sniper attacks had been designed and manufactured, but had not
been fully installed until just two weeks before this Indianapolis conference.
Interestingly, the new system's portable radios had been used once before, to
support the Pentagon terrorist attack operations.
He said Blair was the contact person, "to facilitate communications with an array
of agencies that we had no idea we would ever have to communicate with." He then
introduced Blair, who called the incidents the "capstone" event for his career.
Blair explained the set-up of the area's public safety radio systems, which were
constructed independently, but which use the same 800 MHz trunked technology, and
which share radio codes to allow interoperability. There are about 45 agencies
whose radio connect, over a 400x150 mile swath around Washington (DC). The
initiative was sparked from the 1982 airplane crash into the 14th St. bridge which
separates DC and Virginia, and the difficult communications that resulted.

He said the shootings not only created fear in the minds of the public, but also
generated anxiety among law enforcement, who also had families who could be
potential victims.

Blair said one victim was James Buchanan, whose father was a retired Montgomery
County police officer, with whom Blair had previously worked.

Blair said the county spent $175 million on a new radio system (replacing a 490
MHz UHF system), new CAD, new mobile data, and a new 54,000 square-foot comm
center building. He said that no expense was spared on building the communications
system. The voice radio system ($50 million) includes 11 sites and 20 channels,
and offers 97% in-building coverage. "It's one of the strongest systems I've
seen," he said. There are three bi-directional amplifier systems covering the
Potomac River valley, the Metro transit system, and 97 buildings identified as
low-signal areas.

At the time of the sniper shootings, the system had been built and installed, but
the CAD system, mobile data system and comm center hadn't been finished. "It was
the best of times, it was the worst of times," he said. On one hand they had
radios to hand out to those who needed them, but did not have experience using the
system.

While the radio system had great coverage, it still wasn't able to cover the huge
area that the two sniper suspects apparently covered during their three-week
rampage. Only public works personnel were using the new trunked system at the time
of the shootings.

Blair then listed the lessons he learned:

learn while you work - he said plans for day-long training sessions on the radios
turned into two-hour classes, which later turned into 10 minute classes
flexibility - "It's the key," Blair said.  maintaining inventory control - You had
better write down the name, address and telephone number of everyone you assign a
radio, because it may not come back to you, Blair explained.  secure radio program
- they had 250 encryption-capable radios, but had not set up any method of
maintaining keys or programming them patching - the system was capable of patching
channels and systems, but they had not set up any procedures for handling it yet
develop consistent SOPS - you should work with other agencies to use common radio
codes or plain English, so that all agencies can communicate effectively.

Blair said that the Maryland State Police did have an ACU-1000 interconnect unit,
but that because the incidents were so widespread, "It was hard to know where to
put it." The unit was not deployed, he said, because it just wasn't the type of
incident that would benefit from it.

Souder then took over, and recounted how the very first shooting resulted in only
a shot through the front window of a discount store, which struck the light over
the inside check-out stand. However, it was just minutes later that the first
victim was shot and killed outside a Michael's store.

He explained that the first incident was reported by a single 911 call, and that
the eventual capture of the two suspects was also reported by a 911 call. "Behind
the scenes, throughout this whole event were folks like you and I."

Souder said that next morning he was scheduled to attend an APCO meeting in New
Jersey on interoperability, and while driving he heard a news radio report of a
second shooting murder in Montgomery County. He decided to make a U-turn and
return to work, and by the time he had driven just a few miles, two more murders
had been reported. He then knew things were going to get serious.

He said as the investigation quickly ramped up, and the public became more aware
of the incidents through the media, 911 calls came flooding in with tips. He said
they had previously prepared a paper "tip" sheet, and continued to use it
throughout the entire event--they eventually took 100,000 tips on paper forms. He
said the FBI has a software program they can set up quickly to automate the
process, but it was never used to directly tips. Rather, they were still catching
up on data entry when the two suspects were arrested.

He said the center normally handles about 1,000 calls to 911 each day, and that
for 21 days the volume was double that number.

"The calltakers and dispatchers performed in such an amazing way," Souder said,
"that they can't be given enough credit." He said that early in the event there
was fear that schools might be targets. The comm center staff was given the task
of covering each of 191 schools in the county with an officer--within two hours
the comm center staff had contacted other agencies and had schools and
universities covered. "Tell'em to make it happen and they'll make it happen," he
said.

No leave or days-off were cancelled because of the event, he said, but rather any
extra help was covered by overtime--and there were plenty of dispatchers willing
to work it. He said they had no shortage of food and other items, since the public
was sending all sorts of deliveries-- the trucks never stopped arriving, he joked.
He said Montgomery County received countless offers of help from other centers,
but that outside staffing or technical assistance was never required.

Souder recalled that one of the Montgomery County dispatchers received a call from
one of her best friends, who was distraught and upset. It happened that her
brother was James Buchanan, the second person killed by the sniper while he was
mowing a lawn. Souder said despite this heavy personal loss, the dispatcher
continued to work and handle calls and incidents.
Souder also praised the dispatcher who handled the final 911 call reporting the
suspects parked in an I-70 highway rest stop: the Frederick County calltaker
instructed the caller to have 18-wheelers block both ends of the rest stop so the
suspects couldn't flee before officers arrived.

He said the parking lot became a collection TV satellite trucks, and that he once
saw CNN's Wolf Blitzer sitting under a tree eating a hot dog with a Montgomery
County dispatcher. He said there was always a line of limos on the street for the
TV news big-wigs.

Remember your people, Souder advised. "Never, never, never take them for granted."
Make sure they're well-fed, that you give them breaks, and get a scale--they're
going to gain weight, he joked. If you have a critial incident stress management
tream, post them in the comm center. He said the center was prepared to accept
children from any dispatcher-parent who had to bring them to work (none did),
since many of the county's child care centers had closed down.

Souder said there was never any need to relocated dispatchers to other locations,
or use tactical dispatching.
He noted that Chief Charles Moose was very supportive of the communications
function, frequently commenting about the good work of the dispatchers on
television, and personally visiting the comm center several times to give pats on
the back. "He shared the accolades," he said.

"It was an amzing event," Souder said. "I would have never imagined in my wildest
imagination that I would have had the opportunity to be involved in it. But it
happened, and I'm glad I was there, and I'm glad today that I could share some of
those experiences, and some of those lessons learned." He summed up, "It was
absolutely a collective, collaborative, coordinated effort" amongst all the
involved agencies all across the region.

He thanked those in the room, saying dispatchers from across country had inundated
Montgomery County's comm center with, "tokens of rememberance and appreciation,
and solidarity... e-mails, card, flowers, cookies, more cookies.. it was never,
ever ending." "It was just so reassuring to see how much of a family that we
really are, public safety communications. And it's my pleasure to be part of that
family."

Staffing Help

The status of APCO's staffing Project 40 has been upgraded by the addition of an
acronym: it's now known as Project RETAINS (Responsive Efforts To Address Integral
Needs in Staffing), and has been kicked forward by a $200,000 federal grant, and
the possibility of a second $200,000 grant. During an educational session on the
project, chair Mary Righter and member Steve Souder introduced Mary Taylor, the
senior researcher from the University of Colorado-Denver tasked with coming up
with a formula for optimum comm center staffing.

APCO has always wanted to develop some type of staffing formula, but felt it
needed some specific expertise, and also an independent researcher who would give
the final product complete credibility. The association felt that an APCO-derived
formula might be considered self-serving if it were presented to city councils,
county boards, etc.

Taylor had jumped into the public safety communications world just last Saturday,
but she was already full conversant with the lingo and acronyms. However, the
exact nature of Taylor's final product is still up in the air, because she must go
through a very long process to survey existing agencies of all sizes and types to
derive a formula that can be validated against current experience. She told the
audience that it may be more appropriate to separate comm centers by type of
operation (law enforcement, LE and fire, LE and fire and EMS), than by size. The
quesion of "What's a large comm center?" came up briefly, and there were several
audience opinions: over 100 dispatchers, bigger than anyone else in the state,
etc.
Find more information about the project from the 2002 mid-year report.

Swearing In
At the evening banquet, the association handed out more awards, swore in the new
board with a surprise guest, and then danced to the "5 Easy Pieces" band.

In the ballroom set for over 1,500, acting president Vincent Stile handed out the
"Chapter Challenge" awards to Indiana (largest percentage of members who attended
the conference) and the Atlantic Chapter (largest number of members attending the
conference). Stile then presented the Life Members (left) one-by-one, accompanied
by a narrated explanation of their work history and accomplishments.

Stile then introduced past president Thera Bradshaw, who had been noticeably
absent the past four days, both in person and in reference by Stile during his
presentations. Wearing a red dress and with her voice cracking at times, Bradshaw
called the new board members (right) to the stage. "It takes a lot of courage to
step up as a leader," Bradshaw said, "and it's my honor, truly my honor, to have
served" on the Board. She thanked the board and APCO members for their support,
"during this very difficult personal time." She repeated that it was an honor to
be asked to perform the swearing in, and then asked the in-coming board members to
raise their right hands.

After the oath, Bradshaw asked for a standing ovation, and the audience obliged.
There were handshakes and hugs, and then Stile returned to the microphone to say,
"Thank you, Thera." He said that being president of an international organization
like APCO is humbling, and that he's loved every minute of the experience. He
noted that he had already got his feet wet, and had some experience. He's been in
public safety communications for almost 40 years, he recalled, having joined the
Suffolk County (NY) police department in 1965.

He then began a series of "shout-outs" to various friends and colleagues, starting
with co-worker and radio shop supervisor Bill Gardner, with whom he's served for
20 years. He said, "We saw quite a bit of history--well, we've been
in quite a bit of history," as depicted by the opening session slide show photos
on Monday. "But those pictures don't tell the whole story," he added. "What you
didn't see were the challenges. What you didn't see was the hard work, the
dedication of the people who helped get us to where we are today. You didn't see
the talent that invented the technology."

He recalled the 1935 call for a meeting by law enforcement by Everett Fisher of
the St.  Louis (Mo.) police department--the start of the APCO organization. He
said their objectives back then remain the same. "I believe that in order to reach
our goals in the future, we need to remember that past," Stile said. "We have to
build on the foundation that was already laid out by people before us. We have to
keep what we worked so hard for. We have to under what didn't work, and we have to
use all that information to meet the challenges ahead"

There are many challenges, Stile said, including spectrum issues. "That as
president of this association, my goal is at least to come to the understanding
that we are going to up the road to a solution, that by 2010 we'll have all the
spectrum we need for public safety."

Stile said it's an exciting time, technology is improving, "our tools are getting
smaller and more powerful." Portable radios used to weigh ten pounds, but now they
fit in the palm of the hand, "and do almost anything but take out the trash." He
mentioned the on-going Phase II implementation, and added, "That's one of the
issues that I'd like to see put to bed under my tenure."
Stile then thanked his family, including his wife, "who has always been a
tremendous support." He said the job sometimes comes before family. "I've been in
that situation for quite a while." He also acknowledged his two daughters and
their husbands in the audience, and six of his 10 grandchildren--and he named them
all.

"I also want to thank the Association for allowing me to do this. I also want to
thank you all, because throughout the years you've been helping me actually get to
the point I'm at right now." He said that in order to accomplish anything, the
association must work together.  "We built a foundation laid by the past
presidents and the members that came before us," he said, "and bring a strong
voice for public safety to the Commission, to Congress, wherever we have to be,
we're advocates for public safety." Stile then gaveled the conference adjourned.

http://www.dispatchmonthly.com/apco2003/

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