Communications
What's New
Governor Signs Executive Order Creating the Maine Interoperable Communications Committee
Maine Governor John E. Baldacci has signed an Executive Order that establishes a committee to review and recommend an interoperable communications plan for public safety purposes. The Maine Interoperable Communications Committee is established for the purpose of developing a plan for statewide voice and data communications interoperability to help ensure the safety of all citizens in day-to-day operations, natural disasters, emergency response scenarios, and terrorist incidents. Committee membership will include: the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, or his designee; the Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, or her designee; a representative of local police departments to be nominated by the Maine Chiefs of Police Association and appointed by the Governor.
Why Can't We Talk? Working Together To Bridge the Communications Gap To Save Lives—A Guide for Public Officials
This guide was developed as a result of the ongoing dialogue among State and local elected and appointed officials, city and county managers, police chiefs, fire chiefs, sheriffs, transportation officials, and other public safety officials. It examines the critical barriers to interoperability (the ability of different systems to exchange both voice and data communications), provides guidelines for assessing a jurisdiction's interoperability, and suggests interim technology strategies to close gaps.
Highlights
Internet Assistance for Rural Law Enforcement Agencies
This Internet Project provides toll-free dial-up access and e-mail capability to rural and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. Funded by the Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, the Internet project is administered by the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement (NCRLE), University of Arkansas System.
Public Safety Communications and Interoperability (NIJ Fact Sheet)
Public safety agencies cannot communicate seamlessly for three primary reasons: incompatible frequencies, incompatible equipment, and lack of common language. This National Institute of Justice InShort Fact Sheet details these three barriers to interoperability and outlines steps that can be taken to alleviate the problem and is available for download here.
National Institute of Justice's CommTech Program
Interoperability is one of the research missions of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the CommTech program. Through CommTech, NIJ will provide solutions to both short- and long-term interoperability problems involving wireless public safety telecommunications and information technology applications. CommTech is helping bridge the gap in emergency communication by identifying, adopting, and developing interoperability solutions that include open architecture standards for voice, data, image, and video communication systems.
Communication Surveys
These Technology Clearinghouse surveys have been completed by law enforcement agencies around the country. Each survey will provide you with background information on that particular agency's communications related project, including funding resources, hardware and software vendors utilized for that project as well as contact information for the individual who worked on the project. Some of the surveys may appear in other categories because they deal with various technologies and are not just limited to communications.
IACP Technology Talk Articles
Click here for recent monthly Technology Talk articles, which focus on law enforcement technology and information systems, that have appeared in IACP's Police Chief magazine. Each of these articles is related to communications (wired and wireless).
Technology Talk Archives
Click
here for past articles from 1997-2006.
