By Ron Thaniel and Lina Garcia
February 17, 2003

At a National Press Club press conference, the National Taskforce on Interoperability on February 6 released its final report for public officials on public safety communications demonstrating the urgent need for public safety officials to increase interoperability. Interoperability is the ability to share existing radio communications and infrastructure in times of an emergency.

According to the report, "Popular television shows and movies portray public safety officials as seamlessly coordinated in their communication and response efforts. The reality is different. When public safety agencies communicate with each other, it usually occurs through communication centers - radio operators shuffling messages back and forth between agencies - or through commercial cellular services."

During local catastrophes such as a terrorist attack or a major traffic accident, multiple agencies respond including the local police, local firefighters, local emergency medical personal and State police. Unfortunately, in most areas few if any of these agencies have the capability to quickly share information directly with each other, when lives and property are at stake.

Recognizing that solutions to this national issue must be achieved through cooperation between all levels of government, 17 national associations joined with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, representing State and local elected and appointed officials and public safety officials, formed the National Taskforce on Interoperability to address this issue.

The report released addresses recommendations on spectrum needs, funding and cooperation between all levels of government. Some of the key findings include:

• Five key reasons why public safety agencies can-t communicate - incompatible equipment among jurisdictions and aging equipment; limited funding to update or replace expensive radio equipment; limited and fragmented planning causing wasted money and competition among jurisdictions; lack of coordination and cooperation; and limited and fragmented radio spectrum available to public safety.
• Accessing Interoperability in your community - determine types of emergencies such as traffic accidents that occur in your community and who would respond; which agencies need to talk to one another on a daily basis; who should be in communication in the first 8 hours of an emergency; who will need to be added to the initial group if the emergency surpasses the 8 hours?
• Tips on how a community can achieve Interoperability - develop a plan for improving Interoperability that includes goals and objectives; outline problems or needs to be addressed; identify potential partners; propose a detailed budget; outline a marketing strategy; and include an operational plan that addresses how the project will be funded.
• Funding Strategies - utilize shared systems that will automatically reduce shared costs for agencies; use of existing infrastructures; and obtain pricing information from other governmental units that have already contracted with prospective vendors.

At the press conference, The U.S. Conference of Mayors, National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties also called on Congress to create a permanent public interest trust fund — build with the proceeds from the auction of spectrum licenses to the public's airways that would support grants to promote interoperability efforts.

Representing the U.S. Conference of Mayors over this yearlong review of interoperability has been Conference Trustee and Vice Chair for Telecommunications policy of the Standing Committee on Transportation and Communications Dearborn Mayor Michael A. Guido and Advisory Board Member Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy.

For more information or to obtain a copy of the report contact Ron Thaniel at 202-861-6711. To review the report and recommendations, please go the U.S. Conference of Mayors website at http://www.usmayors.org.