NCJ Number
172213
Date Published
1998
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video discusses the need for interoperability on public safety radio spectrum band.
Abstract
All emergency services must have spectrum band interoperability so they can coordinate their efforts. At the Oklahoma City bombing site, for example, the different emergency services agencies had no common radio frequencies and were reduced at times to using runners and hand signals to communicate. Some emergency vehicles such as ambulances may have multiple radios using multiple frequencies, requiring large information manuals to explain how to communicate, with whom, and for what purpose. It is important that the approximately 19,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States and other public safety entities upgrade their facilities to take advantage of current technology and that they work together to establish standards in order to deal more effectively with equipment manufacturers and vendors. It is critical that all emergency services elements examine their management, leadership, institutional control mechanisms and institutional culture as a first step in implementing and supporting the greatest degree of interoperability and data sharing across agencies and jurisdictions.