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Chris Essid: Hello, my name's Chris Essid. I’m the Director of the Office of
Emergency Communications within the Department of Homeland Security.
Today we’re here to talk about the National Emergency Communications
Plan update that’s currently taking place.
The National Emergency Communications Plan was, the first
version was delivered to Congress in July 2008, and the name itself says it
all. It’s a national plan; it’s not a Federal top-down plan, it’s not a DHS
plan, it’s a true national plan. It’s built on partnerships with the local, State,
and tribal public safety community; industry; Federal agencies—everyone
working together to create a true national plan. I’m joined here today
with Fire Chief Charles Werner from the Charlottesville Fire Department
and Deputy Chief Eddie Reyes from the Alexandria Police Department.
Thank you all for being here today. The first question I have for you all is:
what will the emergency response community have to do to accommodate
newer technologies and evolving technologies that are being developed
today in this next version of the National Plan?
Chief Charles Werner: Well, let me try to frame it first to say where we are
today so we can understand where we go next. We have to maintain our land
mobile radio systems—that today is our mission-critical system that has
reliability, redundancy, capacity, coverage, hardened sites—all those
things that really make us be able to work under the worst environments.
And then, as we make sure we do that, we have to be on a parallel path or a
dual-path strategy of developing our future map of where we want to go.
That gets into broadband and how that works, and I’ll let Eddie speak to that.
Deputy Chief Eddie Reyes: Yeah, I couldn’t agree with you more, Chief.
I mean, our land mobile radio is what first responders just rely and have so
confidence in. Quite candidly, on the police officer side, most officers who
use their radio many, many times during the day will tell you that they will
almost go out on the street without their gun before they will without their
radio. So, that’s just the level of importance that communications and
land mobile radio plays, especially in the police discipline. But as we move
ahead and we plan ahead, you know, broadband is here. It’s knocking on our
door, and it’s a technology that’s going to move us into the next century.
But we have to move in in a phased approach.
Essid: When we look at some of these advanced technologies, like wireless
broadband, what are the opportunities, and what needs to happen for public
safety to increase partnerships with industry to make sure they’re
developing the right devices, they know your user requirements,
and things of that nature?
Chief Werner: We need to have discussions between the emergency
response community and industry so that they really understand our
operational needs and that we, at the same time, understand the new
technologies that are coming forward so that we can learn how to take
advantage of those technologies. I think it goes back to re-emphasizing
the importance of the National Emergency Communications Plan as a
means of bringing this all together into a common vision that’s a national
vision that moves us all in the same direction with the same
understandings.
Deputy Chief Reyes: Yeah, and along those lines, I think we really have to
leverage lessons learned when we talk about that. You know, over 25 years
ago, you know, the P25 standard for land mobile radios was established,
that was very much an industry-led and driven standard. Industry was building
and designing what they thought public safety needed with very little public
safety input. Let’s not make the P25 mistake of over 20 years ago as we
transition into the broadband arena.
Essid: Could you all elaborate a little bit more on the methodology on actually
accomplishing a better partnership between public safety and industry?
Chief Werner: Well, I think the first thing is to continue the path and the
model that DHS and the Office of Emergency Communications have
established of working with the stakeholders and making sure there’s
involvement and discussion as to what we need to do and how we need to
get there.
Deputy Chief Reyes: And just to take another step, I think the governance
and the partnership that national associations have established with
industry—for example, the National Public Safety Telecommunications
Council, NPSTC, I think does a very outstanding job in bringing industry to
the table, networking with public safety officials so that first of all they hear our
needs, they hear our concerns, they hear what’s working and what’s not
working, but at the same time try to network with us.
Essid: Well, following on to that last question, what do you all think is the
importance of planning ahead and integrating some of these newer
technologies and innovations into your daily operations?
Deputy Chief Reyes: Speaking for our municipality personally, Chris, I'll tell
you it’s a fine balance of having that long-range vision. Because, let’s face
it, the cost involved for some of these technologies is astronomical and it
takes a lot of funding to purchase some of these systems. So, it requires that
long-range planning of knowing in this fiscal year down the road is when
going to need to have the money to purchase this equipment.
Chief Werner: One of the things we need to do in this planning process is
begin with the end in mind. Because we have to create the vision, but then
incorporate that vision into the National Emergency Communications Plan.
As a wrap-up to that, going back to that dual-path strategy, is we really have to
understand land mobile radio—where it is and where it will have to be for now
—and at the same time, simultaneously begin developing, understanding, and
working with industry as to where we’re going with broadband and really
plan for that, all encompassed in the National Emergency Communications
Plan.
Essid: Well, I think this is an excellent discussion. And again, we’re talking
about the National Emergency Communications Plan. We’re updating
it this year, and Chief Werner, Chief Reyes, I appreciate you being here
today. Again, my name is Chris Essid and I’m the Director of the Office of
Communications and we thank you for your time.