The existing system is broken.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Federal Communications Commission and Congress ordered improvements to the emergency communications system nationwide. But due to the number of agencies involved and the huge cost, we have been approaching it piecemeal – and not making much progress.
FCC MANDATE: Under federal regulations, public safety agencies must cut their operating bandwidth in half by Jan. 1, 2013. In addition, the FCC has signaled its intent to cut the bandwidth in half again in the coming years. The radio industry is already adopting these standards, which means that the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies will find it increasingly difficult to find parts and labor for existing analog systems. Read more about this at www.fcc.gov/narrowbanding.
DISPATCH: As the chart below shows, there are eight 9-1-1 dispatch centers in Pierce County (in the industry, they are known as Public Safety Answering Points, or PSAPs). Citizens make one phone call and get a police/fire/EMS response, but many do not realize the system is so fragmented.
If you were building a system today, you would not build it like this:
Many of the dispatch centers are too small, outdated and ill-equipped to meet national standards for critical infrastructure. Tacoma Fire Comm’s facility is about 90 years old. West Pierce Fire Comm’s building was built in 1940 and repurposed nearly 30 years ago. The roof leaks, which is why cables are wrapped in plastic. These two dispatch centers are supposed to be redundant and support each other if one goes down, but there’s no room.
RADIO: Another issue that hinders the effectiveness of public safety is the fact that police and fire agencies generally operate on separate radio systems. As the chart below shows, there are 10 owners of radio systems in Pierce County. It’s a mix of analog and digital systems operating on different frequencies. Other agencies have lease agreements with these 10. Because of this setup, first responders from many agencies – some right next door to each other – cannot directly communicate with each other in the field.
DATA: The lack of bandwidth in the current system limits the ability to transmit GIS maps and other data to officers in the field. Think about it: society is shifting away from talking on phones and instead using them to communicate via text message and email, and to share videos and pictures. An industry standard called Next Generation 911 directs public safety agencies to adjust their systems in order to receive and distribute such data.
