From NPR:
After Spending Millions On Communications, Homeland Security Fails Radio Test
One of the difficulties that first responders during the Sept. 11 attacks faced was problematic communication, including radios that didn't allow different agencies to speak with one another.
It would seem like a simple problem to solve, and in the years since, the Department of Homeland Security has spent heavily, equipping agencies with new radios and special reserved frequencies for them to operate on.
But a government watchdog report out Monday concludes that almost 15 years and some $430 million later, the problems persist.
Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General first visited the issue in November 2012, finding that "less than one-fourth of 1 percent of DHS radio users tested could access and use the specified common channel to communicate."
Emphasis mine - Good Lord! Everyone is trying to carve out their own little fiefdom and screw the rest of you. Using the 'free government money' to build flashy new radio rooms but spending zero time on agency interoperability.
One 'advantage' of living in such a disaster-prone area such as Whatcom County is that our communications groups train regularly and we are constantly self-analyzing and improving. I am a newcomer to these organizations but the level of training is very good.
A bit more:
The inspector general's office cited recent tests it conducted, with disappointing results:
"To determine whether radio interoperability had improved since our November 2012 report, we tested 17 radio users from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to see if they could access and use the DHS common channel to communicate. Test results demonstrated little improvement.
Although seven radio users from ICE and USCG were able to successfully communicate using the specified common channel, eight users from CBP were still not aware that a DHS common channel existed. Additionally, a radio user from ICE and another from CBP knew about the common channel, but could not access it."
The Office of the Inspector General also tried to test radio interoperability at the Transportation Security Administration, but the location it visited didn't have the common channel programmed on any of its radios. Asked how the TSA communicated with Customs and Border Protection at the site (presumably an international airport), the manager interviewed said transportation security officers didn't need to communicate with other Homeland Security components by radio, and used phones or visited in person.
Much more at the site - if we get hit; and we will, our security people will not be able to find their asses with both hands. Of course, as with any entrenched bureaucracy, nobody will be fired for this. At worst, they will be promoted to a new position in some other branch office.
We seriously need some adults in the room...
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