If there is one thing that major incidents like the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent manhunt have taught us, is that interoperability is no longer a luxury in law enforcement, but a necessity. Failures in communications technology have been noted in almost every large scale crisis event. They have added to the burden of law enforcement, hindered progress and in cases such as the murders of officers Wenjian Liu and Rafel Ramos of the NYPD, in the wake of the widespread civil unrest stemming from the deaths of Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, may have potentially given officers on the street vital information in a timely fashion on the mentally unstable individual responsible if agency involved was using some of the advanced technology available that allow BOLO’s to be communicated directly to mobile devices. In the case involving the NYPD officers, in an unfortunate twist the information received was communicated from a police department in Maryland (the offenders last known location) to the NYPD by fax. The information was received by the NYPD right around the time that the offender made contact with the officers, fatally wounding both.
While the information flow on this specific incident may not have saved these officers due to time delays, it highlights one of the many needs law enforcement has in receiving up to date information in a timely manner.
Catastrophe
One of the other considerations in an interoperability network is redundancy options. What happens when the primary method of communications is lost, such as what happened in hurricane Katrina in 2005 or with the loss of the massive communications array at the top of the World Trade Center on 9/11? These are considerations that today’s law enforcement executive needs to consider when planning any new communications upgrades or switching to a newer, more robust communications network. Backup systems are now in place around the country; these rely on systems that operate on entirely different networks due to the failings seen in the wake of events just like 9/11 and Katrina.
The why?
Incidents like 9/11 highlighted the weaknesses that law enforcement and to a larger scale--all emergency response agencies--had with communications in a large scale crisis event. Even without the natural disaster and destruction that eventuated from incidents like Katrina, years of both state and federal agencies operating as ‘lone wolves’ in regards to setting up their own individual communications networks, each set up by a different vendor, led to a complex web of communications issues to which there was no easy fix.
Much discussion was had about interoperability between agencies in the wake of 9/11. But real action was not taken by government until 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, when legislation was passed creating the Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program (P25 CAP). The P25 bill devised a method in which major communications vendors could submit their technology to be assessed by third party laboratories to pass the standards required to show that their products were P25 CAP compliant and able to be certified as a device that allowed interoperability between radio networks or whichever communication method the device was using. The bill also allotted funding for ongoing government grants to agencies, with which they could utilize federal funds, allowing them to either create a network that would provide interoperability with surrounding agencies, or allow them to upgrade their current systems to a standard that would allow their equipment to ‘talk’ to other systems. Thus first responders in the same areas could communicate with one another on the same or different radio networks.
Adapting to the need
Early adopters of interoperable technology, like some of the major radio and network suppliers, went in different directions in terms of offering unique solutions as they attempted to stand out from the crowd. Motorola offers several interoperable products: the APX 8000 All Band Portable Radio for primary communications is capable of multi-mode system access through conventional or trunked operation, SmartNet or SmartZone legacy systems and the digital P25 mode covering 7/800Mhz range, VHF band and UHF range 1 & 2. Additionally, Motorola’s solution is capable of operating collaboratively with other devices in the Motorola range such as the LEX L10 LTE handheld device, VML750 LTE vehicle modem and VIEVU’s LE3 body worn camera.
From a holistic view of interoperability and incorporating devices not manufactured by them, Motorola also offers WAVE Work Group Communications solutions that encompass PC’s, Tablet technology and even non Motorola cellular devices, providing push to talk (PTT) functionality between multiple devices.
Motorola’s ASTRO 25 Market Specialist Manager, Geoff Hobar is excited by the opportunities that the P25 network offers their customer base. “In previous times prior to the digital standard, customers, from their very first equipment purchase were shackled to a specific vendor due to the lack of system interoperability and proprietary technology. With the choices customers have today with P25 compliant devices, it gives our customers a choice and the flexibility to use whatever product suits their needs. Be it our devices or someone else’s, the interoperability market has forced manufacturers to step up their game, and compete for customers. We believe [our products] have the reliability, functionality and quality to stand on their own in the interoperability market," says Hobar.
Tait radio also offers a line of P25 compliant radio devices such as the TP9400 and TP9100, along with the transportable P25 base station/repeater that can be deployed as needed to improve communications. It can also be used as a specific targeted network for major incident response or major event use. Tait products offer ruggedized design and the same interoperability solutions through multiple bands and legacy systems for use by officers on the street with FIPS 140-2 certified encryption, by their proprietary Key Fill Device or Over The Air Rekeying, allowing well secured communications through conventional, trunked or simulcast radio networks.
Agencies have found both benefits and disadvantages when it comes to radio networks overcome with the influx of options available from multiple vendors, coupled with the need to communicate with multiple agencies during both crisis events and day to day operations. A company that was able to seize an opportunity to find a unique way to approach the market was Mutualink, based in Wallingford, CT.
A different approach
While some vendors in the market were looking at radio networks and how to make their proprietary network function within other frequencies and network infrastructures (at the same time keeping agencies aligned with their products), the company Mutualink looked at the ability to encompass as many devices under the one umbrella that had the potential to communicate, from radio communications to cell phones and even CCTV. Because of this the company has seen its deployed in not just the public safety and first responder markets, but federal agencies, hospitals, shopping malls, schools and private industry--all with a focus on making their facilities available, should the need arise in a crisis event.
Mutualink’s proprietary software and hardware solutions operate independent of any need to be linked to a specific provider network or device. It seamlessly integrates into any communications technology through their encrypted secure IP based multimedia overlay network that allows each agency 100 percent sovereignty over it’s communications media. Interoperability is achieved through their proprietary Edge technology installed on IOS and Android devices, and Windows PCs and Network Interface Controllers (NICs) that enables the integration of telephone, radio, video, IP based communications (VoIP) or data into a secure digital networked system. Interoperability is managed by proprietary software that can then be accessed via user interface on PCs or handheld devises that can invite other agencies to join. Sessions can be agreed to and planned in advanced by triggered events like the pushing of a panic button by a school to manage a crisis situation. This technology can be managed by either a dispatch center, communications manager or any number of assigned individuals charged with running the localized access levels. This approach relieves agencies from being tied to one particular supplier for communications and opens up the possibilities for agencies to entertain the use of more than one communications supplier when looking at overall communications functionality and choosing the right devices and technology that best suits their agency needs.
When asked about Mutualink’s technology advances and their approach to interoperability, Colin McWay, President of Mutualink said “For the past several years Mutualink has been advancing the notion of media cohesion. Media cohesion is the methodology by which users of one media type can share communications with users of other media types (e.g. LTE to LMR) and is in use by hundreds of first responders today. This approach eliminates silos, creating seamless interoperability for agencies in the same community or across the country without forcing them to change the technology that they use daily.
