NCJ Number
203356
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 51 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2003 Pages: 14,16
Date Published
November 2003
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Raytheon Company’s mobile radio platform known as “First Responder.”
Abstract
Raytheon’s new truck, First Responder, is worth a serious look by police departments. This new technology is so effective that three First Responders were sent to Iraq during the war. Designed to be compact, the First Responder ranges in price from $175,000 to $300,000 and is equipped with an ACU-1000 Modular Interconnect System. Developed to accept up to 12 feeds from incompatible radios, cell phones, and landlines, the First Responder has a fold-down rooftop satellite antenna and an in-truck INMARSAT-B satellite communications system. Capabilities of the First Responder include being able to handle two-way streaming audio, video, and data using a Globalstar satellite phone. The First Responder comes with software programmable radios, a radio transceiver set to popular police and fire frequencies, and a SINCGARS military radio. First Responder’s computing power in the form of two 11 Mbps wireless (Wi-Fi) LANs with video cameras and laptops was tested when this serious communication provider was used in February 2003 at the scene of the space shuttle Colombia’s recovery operation in Texas. First Responder enabled everyone in the recovery zone to be able to reach and understand each other. This test of First Responder’s capabilities proved that this technology is an effective, mobile, high tech connection to the world.