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Tuesday, August 21, 2001
Emergency agencies get better link [Source: Denver Post] By Stacie Oulton Denver Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 21, 2001 - LAKEWOOD - The fate of Columbine High School teacher Dave Sanders might have been different if police radio technology unveiled Monday had been available two years ago. During mass disasters such as the school shooting, police and rescuers from different departments frequently haven't been able to communicate over a critical lifeline - the police radio. That happened at Columbine, but a new system spreading across the Denver metro area, the state and the country will change that. The computer-based system allows departments with incompatible radio systems finally to connect. Having that tool might have made a difference for Sanders, who died after waiting hours for rescuers to reach him in the confusion following the shootings. "My own view is it probably would have made a difference. We certainly would have had a faster response time," said U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Ignacio. Campbell secured $300,000 of federal money to pay for the new system installed at the Lakewood Police Department, which allows 12 metro-area drug task forces, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal departments to communicate over the radio as they are making drug busts. Lakewood's system is not the first, but officials say it's the next step in completing a statewide linkup by next summer. Denver and Arapahoe County sheriff's offices have had similar systems since last year, and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is purchasing two. Arapahoe's system was used last summer during the Hi Meadow wildfire. The money for Lakewood's system came through the President's Office of National Drug Control Policy, while other departments received grants from the U.S. Department of Justice. Some 2,500 departments across the country have received federal money for the new systems. Al Brandenstein, the chief scientist for the drug-control office, said he was motivated to work to solve the radio problem after reading about the problems at Columbine. With such a system in place, SWAT teams that waited to enter the school could have received better information and Sanders "could have been saved," he said. The systems - sort of an electronic version of the old-fashioned switchboard - are seen as a way to speed connections among departments as a broader, statewide digital radio system is put in place. Agencies throughout the state are being encouraged to switch to digital radios, which can also provide connections between police departments. Still, Arapahoe Sheriff's Capt. Bob Lauderdale and others said the new system unveiled Monday won't be able to replace the need for the statewide digital radio system.
CREST Simulated Emergency Test [Source: Ed Greany, KB6DOL, KAD6554] Note: CREST is not affiliated with Freq Of Nature. This is a public service announcement only.   Here is an invitation to participate in our "Mock Drill". Scanner listeners are welcome to participate with us. Instructions are at the end of this notice. You can contact us via a temporary special email and/or website if you are not licensed on GMRS. Saturday, AUGUST 25, 2001 -- Two hours of hair-raising, stress-filled activities are being made available FREE OF CHARGE by members of Crest REACT from 09:00 - 11:00 on Saturday, Aug 25, 2001. In development for more than four months now, Crest Team proudly announces SET 2001 (Simulated Emergency Test) in Southern California. This promises to be our best SET yet including the use of multiple radio services and public participation. While our primary contact frequency will begin promptly at 09:00 hours on 462.675 MHz, all team members are urged to be fully prepared for "unexpected" changes as the situation warrants and as the emergency unfolds. The primary repeater to be used will be the Santiago Peak Repeater in Orange County. This repeater has a range of approximately 50+ miles and can be heard farther than that depending on terrain. If you hear it, please participate with us. All teams members should exercise extreme caution and be aware that SET operations may be interrupted in the event an emergency "break" is requested. The following is requested of all Crest team members: 1. Please be "on board" and monitoring ten (10) minutes PRIOR TO THE INITIATION OF SET OPERATIONS. 2. Monitor inbound Internet e-mail traffic that may be necessary to keep you informed of last minute changes. 3. Prepare EARLY and make sure all portable batteries are charged and BE READY FOR ANYTHING. 4. Periodic SET news updates MAY be released "on the air" as needed. This is a two-hour event. All team members should take all measures necessary to allow maximum participation. - SET OPERATIONS E-MAIL ACTIVITY - A special e-mailbox will be activated 15-minutes prior to the start of the event and will be de-activated at 11:00 hours. E-mail traffic from members should be sent to the special e-mailbox THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF SET OPERATIONS. The SET e-mail address is: set@crestcom.org Additional information can be located on our team web site: http://www.CRESTCOM.org/set2001.htm Ed Greany, KB6DOL, KAD6554 Crest REACT Unit 25, Life Member 555 http://www.CrestCom.org Sunday, August 19, 2001
National Law Enforcement and Corrections Videos [Source: Justice Technology Information Network] [Special thanks to: Harry Marnell for bring this to our attention] The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center web site has two online streaming videos that would be of interest to radio monitoring hobbyists. If you would like to see the other videos then please visit their web site at http://nlectc.corrections.com  How We Can Talk Real Player or Windows Media Player The CHP, police , fire - virtually all our public safety organizations - are on different radio frequencies. Cooperation is vital, but radio communications makes coordination between jurisdictions difficult and sometimes impossible. As a public safety officer in the San Diego area, you have a tool to achieve inter-agency clear voice communications instantly - the San Diego Border Tactical Communication Patch, or "BORTAC". This short video will help you understand how important BORTAC can be and how easy it is to use -- just request the patch, and talk as normal, and communicate directly with any agency that is on the patch. Why Can't We Talk? Real Player or Windows Media Player The "Why Can't We Talk?" When Lives Are At Stake video is one component of the U.S. Department of Justice's public education campaign. They provide an executive summary of the growing importance of interoperability in an effort to foster informed decision making regarding the planning, design, and funding of public safety radio systems. Fact sheet
Motorola Leads Way With Next Generation of Public Safety Communications Capabilities [Source: Motorola Inc.]  PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is ushering in a new era of public safety communications with a trial wideband data technology that enables live wide-area wireless mobile video, voice and Intranet/Internet data transmission for police, fire, emergency medical service and other public safety applications. The sophisticated Motorola wideband data system, designated the Greenhouse Project, is now being deployed by police, fire and EMS in Pinellas County, Florida. Operating at 460 kbps, this powerful next-generation technology is 48 times faster than the current U.S. public safety standard and enables simultaneous live wireless mobile video, voice and Intranet/Internet high-speed data transmission on one system. Motorola and Pinellas County today unveiled the Greenhouse Project with video and vehicle demonstrations at the Pinellas County EMS Facility in Largo, Florida. The system operates in the new 700 MHz public safety band, under an experimental 150 kHz FCC license. This band is part of the largest frequency allocation to public safety by the Federal Communications Commission. "We are pleased to work with Pinellas County to combine Motorola's leading-edge technology with the county's leading-edge vision for how this new technology can improve public safety communications for the users and the communities they serve," said Rich Baids, Motorola Vice President and General Manager of the Radio System Division, Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector. "The Greenhouse Project demonstrates Motorola's commitment to being a worldwide technology leader." The Greenhouse enables such applications as live video conferencing between dispatchers and mobile units and allows for police, fire and EMS to interoperate with each other with voice, video and data capabilities. "We are working closely with Pinellas County to better understand their needs in actual situations and to help them plan for the future of public safety communications," said Tim Goodall, Motorola Greenhouse project leader. "With the Greenhouse Project, information that is available at the desk of a public safety agency is now available live in the field." Pinellas County officials have embraced the Greenhouse Project. The system is installed in selected Sheriff's Office cruisers, a Pinellas County EMS ambulance, the Largo Fire Department's rescue truck, a deputy command vehicle and a mobile unit. Users operate the system via a touch-screen, color display panel mounted in the vehicles. Each unit is able to communicate and share information between the different agencies. Specially equipped police and EMS dispatch positions support these units. "The research partnership we have formed as a result of this Greenhouse Project has enabled our agency to explore the operational benefits made possible by this leading-edge technology," said Everett Rice, Pinellas County Sheriff. "We are actively working on our vision of public safety now, instead of waiting for the future." Some practical applications of the Greenhouse include:
"Greenhouse technology also allows public safety users to increase their time in the field by allowing those participants to perform most desk functions outside the station," said Pam Montanari, Radio Systems Manager of Pinellas County. "This wideband data capability allows us to leverage our information technology investment to field-deployed officers," David Byrum, Communications Engineer, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said. "The Greenhouse Project provides additional knowledge to our users to make better-informed decisions." The system capabilities include wireless Voice over IP (Internet Protocol) and Video over IP. The very fast over-the-air data rates are achieved using Motorola's Scalable Adaptive Modulation (SAM) air protocol. SAM uses a fraction of the comparable public radio frequency spectrum and has been proposed to be the industry's wideband data standard. The Greenhouse system delivers a wide-area end-to-end IP packet-based solution. The Greenhouse Project is a private digital radio system, which was first operational on December 20, 2000. Product availability is contingent on licensing availability from the FCC and completion of the associated standards. About Motorola Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronics solutions. Sales in 2000 were $37.6 billion. For more information, visit http://www.motorola.com . For more information on the Greenhouse Project, visit http://www.motorola.com/greenhouse . About Pinellas County & Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Pinellas County is a peninsula bordered by the Gulf of Mexico on the west and by Tampa Bay on the east, covering approximately 264 square miles in Florida. Pinellas County's population in 1995 was 884,600 permanent residents with an additional 40,921 seasonal residents. MOTOROLA and the stylized M Logo are registered in the U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. SOURCE Motorola CONTACT: Steve Gorecki of Motorola, +1-847-538-0368, or steve.gorecki@motorola.com , or Marianne Pasha of Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, +1-727-582-6221, or mpasha@co.pinellas.fl.us / |