High-Risk Metropolitan Areas Interoperability Assistance Project: The 25 Cities Project May 2, 2005 Department of Justice • Wireless Management Office THE DOJ INTEROPERABILITY ASSISTANCE PROJECT USED A FIVE PHASE PLAN IN EACH CITY TO IMPROVE INTEROPERABILITY • The Department of Justice (DOJ) High-Risk Metropolitan Areas Interoperability Assistance Project addresses a House/Senate CJS Appropriations staff request to the DOJ Wireless Management Office (WMO) to— - Provide federal law enforcement/ homeland security agencies with basic inter-systems communication for emergency situations - Provide an ability to connect with key local authorities (i.e., fire, police, emergency medical services [EMS]) - Address the top 25 metropolitan areas that are likely targets for attack • To meet the request, the WMO is using the following five-phased plan in each city Plan for Improving Interoperability in High-Risk Metropolitan Areas Chart •Phase 1 Identify Locations • Identify cities considered to be most likely targets • Rank cities by risk •Phase 2 Gather Data • Leverage existing resources • Meet with local personnel • Collect key requirements •Phase 3 Identify Gaps and Solutions • Evaluate existingcommunications capabilities • Prioritize mission critical requirements • Select and recommend solutions to participating agencies •Phase 4 Develop Solution Plan • Gather detailed data • Develop technical plans for installing new equipment • Develop operational and training plans to fully leverage existing resources •Phase 5 Implement the Solutions • Procure and install equipment • Conduct training andexercises • Facilitate the implementation ofnew operational procedures DOJ’S APPROACH FOCUSES ON BUILDING CLOSE, COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL AREA STAKEHOLDERS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEROPERABILITY SOLUTIONS STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION State •Offices of Emergency Services •State Police •National Guard •Emergency Management Agencies •Depts of Transportation and Corrections Local •Depts of Transportation and Corrections •City and County Fire Depts •City and County Police Depts •County Sheriffs •EMS •Tribal Police and Specialized Law Enforcement •Public safety agencies Federal Agencies •ATF •CAP •CBP •DEA •DOE •FBI •FEMA • US Marine Corps •US Mint •USMS •US Navy • USPIS • USPP • USSS •FPS •ICE •IRS •NPS •TSA • US Army •USCG Interoperability Initiatives •SAFECOM •RapidCom 9/30 •COPS Interoperable CommunicationsTechnology Program •ODP Interoperable CommunicationsTechnical Assistance Program •ONDCP Counter-drug Technology Assessment Center SOLUTION DEVELOPMENT PROCESS Image of Consensus Among Stakeholders flow chart COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS •Fixed Solutions • Involve permanent interconnects of disparate systems •Mobile Solutions • Involve temporary network links for a limited geographic area •Operational Solutions • Address management issues of interoperability equipment SOLUTION IMPLEMENTATION • Procurement • Installation • Optimization • Testing • Training THE 25 CITIES EFFORT HAS INTERGRATED SOLUTIONS INTO BROADER DOJ INITIATIVES (IWN) FOR ACHIEVING COMPREHENSIVE INTEROPERABILITYFOR PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES Seattle Fixed Solution: BIM -to- BIM Console Patch – BIM connections provided direct interoperability among the King County, Pierce County, Snohomish County, Port of Seattle, Federal Integrated Wireless Network, and Washington State Patrol systems – These connections established direct communications between users and dispatchers and enabled inter-agency communications via the talk groups programmed into their existing radio systems DOJ IMPLEMENTED FIXED SOLUTIONS WHICH LEVERAGED EXISTING CITY-WIDE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND RESOURCES Miami, Florida – DOJ provided two RF control stations to ATF, DEA, FBI, USCG, and USMS to access the Miami-Dade County EDACS system and a locally used NPSPAC mutual aid channel – City of Miami control stations were also provided to FBI, DEA, and USSS Charlotte, North Carolina – The Charlotte metropolitan area is served by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Radio System, covering over 9800 users – DOJ provided 120 portable radios for use by state and federal public safety agencies to supplement an existing radio cache Other cities leveraging existing systems – Los Angeles, CA – Seattle, WA – Jacksonville, FL – Tampa, FL – Boston, MA – San Diego, CA – Denver, CO – Phoenix, AZ – New Orleans, LA – Washington, DC – Chicago, IL – Houston, TX – Dallas, TX – San Francisco, CA – Detroit, MI – Portland, OR OTHER FIXED SOLUTIONS PROVIDED NEW INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT FEDERAL INTEROPERABILITY CHANNELS AND NETWORKS Atlanta, Georgia – DOJ provided a federal interoperability channel using a standalone VHF narrowband repeater – Provides interoperability for ATF, CBP, DEA, ICE, FBI, FEMA, National Parks Service, USMS, and USSS Honolulu, Hawaii – DOJ helped the participating agencies to build a free space optical network – Agencies connect to the network at one of four loop points and are responsible for providing their own connections Other cities receivingnew infrastructure – Jacksonville, FL – New York, NY – Boston, MA – San Diego, CA – Hampton Roads, VA – Baltimore, MD – Philadelphia, PA – New Orleans, LA – St. Louis, MO – Washington, DC – Chicago, IL – Houston, TX – Dallas, TX – San Francisco, CA MOBILE SOLUTIONS PROVIDED ON-SCENE INTEROPERABILITY CAPABILITIES DURING MULTI-AGENCY INCIDENT RESPONSES Denver, Colorado – DOJ provided a communications vehicle to help Denver public safety personnel better respond to incidents in mountainous terrain by expanding the coverage of the existing Consolidated Communications Network of Colorado Los Angeles, California – DOJ provided two mobile audio gateway switches to Los Angeles’ Sheriff’s Department for implementation in a first responder unit and mobile command trailer Other cities receivingmobile solutions – Seattle, WA – Jacksonville, FL – Tampa, FL – New York, NY – San Diego, CA – Phoenix, AZ – Charlotte, NC – Honolulu, HI – Miami, FL – Baltimore, MD – Philadelphia, PA – New Orleans, LA – Washington, DC – Dallas, TX – Detroit, MI OPERATIONAL SOLUTIONS WERE KEY TO ENSURING EFFECTIVE USE OF FIXED AND MOBILE SOLUTIONS • DOJ formed interoperability committees, if one did not currently exist, to discuss issues facing the metropolitan area and develop policies and procedures to address management issues of interoperability equipment • Once the interoperability committee identified appropriate operational assistance, DOJ worked with area stakeholders to develop operational guidance documents to guide the committee toward informed policy decisions • Through discussions and reviews of the operational guidance documents, the interoperability committee developed standard operating procedures • Additional operational documents, such as job aides and resource guides, were developed based on the metropolitan area’s needs COMMUNICATIONS EXERCISES PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR USERS TO GAIN EXPERIENCE WITH NEW EQUIPMENT IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT Seattle, Washington - Held a series of three exercises in January 2005 - Tested the basic technical and operational functionality of the Tri- County Interoperability System - Users connected to new law enforcement, fire, and EMS talkgroups - Six key local, state, and federal agencies participated New York City, New York - Held a series of three exercises in July 2004 - Three goals for the exercise were to increase awareness of the mobile interoperability solution, evaluate trained personnel, and demonstrate the procedural complexities of using a mobile interoperability switch - Fourteen local, state, and federal agencies participated PROJECT LESSONS LEARNED OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS CAN BE LEVERAGED FOR SUCCESSFUL SUSTAINABILITY OF INTEROPERABILITY SOLUTIONS • Interoperability solutions should be tailored to meet the unique operational requirements and environment for each metropolitan area • Strong local or regional leadership has been critical in the development, implementation and sustainability of the interoperability solutions and efforts • Independent interoperability committees and initiatives of respective metropolitan areas can be leveraged for key stakeholder input and resources for developing comprehensive solution sets for each city • Best practices and lessons learned can be adopted in the process for developing additional interoperability support and solutions • Stakeholder participation and ownership in the solution design and implementation process has been fundamentally imperative in the overall relevance and success of the interoperability efforts • Successful interoperability solutions have addressed and encompassed both technical and operational considerations DOJ PROJECT CONTACTS Timothy S. Ritter Robert M. Zanger Director, Wireless Management Office Attorney/Advisor, Wireless Management Office Department of Justice Department of Justice Telephone: 703-322-1661 Telephone : 703-322-1675 E-mail: tim.ritter@usdoj.gov E-mail: robert.m.zanger@usdoj.gov Department of Justice • Wireless Management Office