Programs, Organizations, and Committees are listed first, followed by Documents, below.
AGILE Program - Advanced Generation of Interoperability for Law Enforcement
AGILE Calendar of Events
National Task Force on Interoperability (NTFI) - "The mission of NTFI was to help public safety achieve communications interoperability. To accomplish this, NTFI provided education/information to state and local elected and appointed officials and their representative associations regarding the benefits of interoperability, and provided a forum for public policy makers to partner their efforts with the efforts of the public safety community to address interoperability issues in a more comprehensive way."
Capital Wireless Integrated Network (CAPWIN) - A mobile computing interoperability solution for the Washington Metropolitan Region.
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) - "Formed May 1, 1997, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) is a federation of associations representing public safety telecommunications. The purpose of NPSTC is to follow up on the recommendations of the Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee (PSWAC)."
NPSTC, through NLECTC, supports "statewide interoperability executive councils", which were an FCC creation for oversight of 700 MHz interoperability spectrum - a resource not yet in use around the United States. NPSTC maintains an SIEC resource page directed toward them. A few states have created SIECs to deal with the more general issue of communications interoperability, though, and there is a growing trend in this direction. Examples include Washington and Montana.
NLECTC Public Safety Communications Program - The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) maintains an office providing technical assistance for public safety agencies, support for NPSTC, and other communications initiatives.
Communications Interoperability / Information Sharing Program (OJP) - "NIJ sponsors technology research, evaluation, and demonstration projects to address criminal justice and public safety agency communications and information sharing needs."
National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) - "... is a federation of associations representing public safety telecommunications. The purpose of NPSTC is to follow up on the recommendations of the Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee (PSWAC). In addition, NPSTC acts as a resource and advocate for public safety telecommunications issues."
Public Safety Wireless Network Program (PSWN) - "The PSWN Program was formed to promote effective public safety communications and to foster interoperability among local, state, federal, and tribal communications systems. The program is jointly sponsored by the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury."
PSWN is in a transitional period now due to creation of DHS and changes in funding streams. For the first time in recent memory, no future PSWN symposia are scheduled. See their news page.
PSWN's systems planning documents are its broadest contributions to communications interoperability efforts.
Public Safety Wireless Interoperability National Strategy (Public Safety WINS) - A PSWN interactive web site spun-off to highlight strategy, in contrast to PSWN's more programmatic and project oriented efforts over the past several years. It highlights a "State of Interoperability" report characterizing states based on six metrics of communications interoperability. Also see "Key Issue Areas" under this home page.
Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee (PSWAC) - "[T]he Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) established the Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee ... to evaluate the wireless communications needs of federal, state, and local Public Safety agencies through the year 2010 and recommend possible solutions."
PSWAC no longer exists. It was followed by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC).
Office of Law Enforcement Standards - Public Safety Communications Standards Program - "OLES' Public Safety Communications Standards program is dedicated to supporting AGILE. The program is developing standards for voice, data, image, and video transfers, drawing on existing standards, discussions with end users regarding their requirements, and participation in IT and wireless standards committees. To meet the needs of law enforcement and public safety agencies until standards are in place, the program is evaluating commercial devices and services that can provide interim interoperability." (NIST & AGILE).
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, Intl. (APCO) - "...is a member driven association of communications professionals that provides leadership; influences public safety communications decisions of government and industry; promotes professional development; and, fosters the development and use of technology for the benefit of the public."
APCO has over 16,000 members internationally. Its Automated Frequency Coordination subsidiary is by far the largest frequency coordinator - an official FCC designation - for public safety, processing nearly 2/3rds of all such license applications in the United States.
Project MESA - "Project MESA is an international partnership producing globally applicable technical specifications for digital mobile broadband technology, aimed initially at the sectors of public safety and disaster response." The project is supported by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the United States' Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).
Dan has recently been asked to represent APCO, the project founder, in Project MESA. Craig Jorgensen is chairman of its Service Specification Group, one of two committees working on specifications. Craig is a past APCO and NASTD president, as well as long-time APCO contractor for Project 25.
Project 25 was began as an APCO project in 1989 to create radio standards for digital public safety systems. As documents became formalized and accepted through the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and, finally, through ANSI, the standards suite came to be known more simply as 'Project 25'.
The web site is largely inactive. Formal standards documents are available for a fee through TIA. This document gives a brief rundown on the project and its products.
Link Name: NTFI Brochure on Communications Interoperability (450 KB)
Formal Title: "When They Can't Talk, Lives Are Lost"
Notes: Produced by AGILE for the NTFI, February 2003.
Comments: Recent brochure produced to accompany the NTFI Guide. Intended primarily for public officials, it contains simple explanations of issues.
Link Name: NTFI Guide to Communications Interoperability (1.6 MB)
Formal Title: "WHY CAN'T WE TALK? Working Together To Bridge the Communications Gap To Save Lives"
Notes: Produced by AGILE for the NTFI, February 2003.
Comments: Recent document good as a primer on the subject. It rolls together information from other documents listed here. The NTFI is probably one of the highest profile efforts to tackle the subject, so the material here should be understood, at least. It was publicized by the NGA Center for Best Practices shortly after release. See here.
Link Name: PSWN Systems Planning Guide (2.5 MB)
Formal Title: "How-To Guide for Managing the Radio System Life Cycle"
Notes: "This guide is designed to assist public safety agencies in navigating the radio system life cycle. It covers issues essential to successful planning, design, procurement, implementation, operations, and maintenance of a regional or statewide radio communications system." Produced in 2001?
Comments: An important, if uneven, reference. Not to the standard of the Law Enforcement Tech Guide. The lack of a table of contents and index makes it difficult to use. Uneven coverage of high-level and detail issues. For example, governance of these typically multi-agency systems isn't addressed, but FCC allocation and licensing processes are covered in considerable detail.
Link Name: PSWN Roadmap (900 KB)
Formal Title: "Public Safety Land Mobile Radio - A Road Map for Systems Development"
Notes: A large-format document intended for commercial paper production. Produced in 2001?
Comments: An important reference containing a useful "Key Roles and Challenges" section. It doesn't follow it's companion PSWN Systems Planning Guide, completely. For example, it depicts seven phases of the systems lifecycle, rather than the latter's six. The detailed "Key Roles and Challenges", amongst other content, isn't repeated in the planning guide.
Link Name: State and Local Law Enforcement Wireless Communications and Interoperability
Formal Title: State and Local Law Enforcement Wireless Communications and Interoperability: A Quantitative Analysis
Notes: Produced by NLECTC- Rocky Mtn Region, January 1998.
Comments: This is the definitive study on communications interoperability capabilities and needs. Required reading, especially the conclusions.
Link Name: PSWAC Final Report (2.6 MB)
Formal Title: PSWAC Final Report to the FCC and NTIA
Notes: Produced by the Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee for the FCC and NTIA, September 11, 1996.
Comments: This is the seminal work on public safety wireless communications needs. The Interoperability Subcommittee Summary starts on p. 44. Its full report is included as Appendix A.
Link Name: Understanding Wireless Communications in Public Safety (2.6 MB)
Formal Title: "Understanding Wireless Communications in Public Safety: A Guidebook to Technology, Issues, Planning, and Management"
Notes: Produced by NLECTC- Rocky Mtn Region, January 2003.
Comments: A mixture of high-level and technical materials, including 2-3 pages on "Planning the Project" and twice as much on antennas. A chapter on interoperability fairly considers major issues, if cursorily.
Link Name: Interoperable Communications User's Handbook (1 MB)
Formal Title: "Developing Multi-Agency Interoperability Communications Systems: User's Handbook"
Notes: Produced by Community Research Associates, Inc., 2001, for AGILE.
Comments: Focused on the ACU-1000 and its transportable counterpart, the TRP-1000, devices that allow different radio channels to be patched together either semi-permanently at a fixed location or dynamically at the scene of an incident. While the title is a bit more expansive than the actual subject material, this report is a good overview of the technology. It discusses examples in Chicago, Orlando, and Arapahoe County (CO).
Link Name: Technical Evaluation of the TRP-1000 and ACU-1000 (700 KB)
Formal Title: "Technical Evaluation of the TRP-1000 and ACU-1000 - Test Procedures and Results, Document No. TE-00-02-01"
Notes: Produced by NTIA Institute for Telecommunications Sciences, August 2000, for AGILE.
Comments: Very technical evaluation. Not for the faint of heart.
Link Name: 9/11 After-Action Report: NYC
Formal Title: “McKinsey Report – Increasing FDNY's Preparedness”
Notes: Produced by McKinsey & Company, 2002, for New York City.
Comments: The definitive review of New York City public safety response on September 11, 2001. Includes special comments on communications.
Link Name: 9/11 After-Action Report: Pentagon
Formal Title: “Arlington County After-Action Report”
Notes: Produced by Titan Systems Corporation, 2002, for Arlington County (VA). HTML version
Comments: “Almost all aspects of communications continue to be problematic, from initial notification to tactical operations.”
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