Consideration for MUTUAL AID COMMUNICATIONS

State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99 Considerations for MUTUAL AID COMMUNICATIONS For Public Safety Radio Services within Florida

By Robert B. Ferrell and Carlton W. Wells, Bureau of Wireless Communications

The necessity for radio communications between public safety agencies during mutual aid operations has been evident since the advent of mobile radio technology over half a century ago. Numerous methods to provide mutual aid communications have been implemented, but a standardized means of providing practical and affordable mutual aid communications to accommodate the broad scope of mutual aid operations remains elusive. The lack of sufficient mutual aid communications continues to have tragic consequences in the loss of life and property. Mutual aid incidents continue to occur in which public safety officials must literally stand next to each other to convey vital information between agencies.

Early efforts to facilitate mutual aid radio communications included the establishment of common frequencies shared by several agencies. This approach was usually of limited benefit since the fractured nature of FCC frequency allocations prevented common channels from being shared by agencies of different disciplines1, or between agencies whose systems operated in different frequency bands2.

More complex solutions using techniques such as cross-band repeaters3 have been used to satisfy specific local mutual aid requirements. This technique is normally used when agencies operate in different frequency bands, but it can only tie two channels together at one time. Since this method occupies two radio channels for the duration of one call, it reduces channel efficiency by one-half at the very time when channel availability is most needed. While useful in local operations, it does little to improve mutual aid with outside agencies, particularly those from different geographic areas or those in other frequency bands.

In recent years, the availability of cellular telephone service has been of benefit during emergency and disaster operations. The low cost, small size and convenience of cellular phones makes them attractive for communications in emergency situations. However large areas of the state, particularly in rural environments, do not have reliable cellular coverage. In addition, cellular phones cannot provide the group communications and priority access needed for mutual aid, and may become unusable due to overload or outage during wide-area disasters.

Each of the above methods are useful in many situations, but they do not satisfy the overall need for reliable, wide area communications among all public safety units that may be called to the scene of mutual aid operations.

Attachment 1 is a list of each of the technologies available for public safety mutual aid This document is available on the internet at http://www.techplan.state.fl.us/dms/tools/plnpol/800ma.pdf communications, together with a brief statement of the pros and cons of each. Each of these

1 FCC rules generally prohibited police channels from being used by fire agencies, fire channels from being used by EMS, and so on. 2 All public safety radios use one of the four available frequency bands. Radios built for one band cannot operate on frequencies in any of the other three bands. 3 Cross-banding or cross-patching enables a received signal to be re-transmitted by a base station in a different frequency band.

1 State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99 technologies has usefulness, but the limited scope of most of them cannot satisfy the communication needs for wide-area mutual aid operations. Most public safety agencies have implemented one or more technologies to enable some degree of mutual aid communications, but in most cases, the results have been insufficient during major disasters or other non-routine mutual aid operations involving multiple agencies.

The first major effort to address this problem on a national scale was the National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC), which produced a report to the FCC in 1987 detailing both the problems and potential solutions4. The overall need for mutual aid radio communications was stated in the NPSPAC Final Report5:

“The need exists for police, fire, emergency medical, and other Public Safety operatives to routinely intercommunicate at the scene of major fires, train wrecks, plane crashes, and so forth. Police officers are often requested for traffic and crowd control or to assist with rescue efforts, but have no communications with the fire ground command center to coordinate activities as the firefighters and others carry out their operations to bring the fire under control, or conduct rescue operations. Chemical spills and other potential disasters are more and more frequently closing highways and requiring areas to be evacuated. Here again, the inability of police, fire, and other services to intercommunicate disallows adequate coordination of efforts.”

NPSPAC recognized that solutions such as channel-sharing between local agencies, or cross- band repeaters, while suitable for limited and localized mutual aid operations, were essentially patchwork attempts to work around the fundamental problem. The NPSPAC report concluded that the FCC should allocate at least five radio channels nationwide which would be available only for mutual aid operations, and which could be used by any public safety agencies, including federal agencies participating in the operations. The NPSPAC report and subsequent FCC rules, together with FCC-approved Region Plans6, established all licensing and operational rules for implementation and use of the five national mutual aid channels.

The five national mutual aid channels include one channel to serve as a “calling channel” to be used for coordinating requests for service. The remaining four channels are designated for “tactical” use between agencies participating in mutual aid operations. In addition to these five national channels, the State of Florida has licensed a separate 800 MHz channel exclusively for mutual aid within Florida.7

4 Florida actively participated in the NPSPAC proceedings of 1986-1987. The Information Technology Division remains an active participant in the ongoing Region-9 Public Safety Planning Committee. 5 National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee, Final Report to the Federal Communications Commission, September 9, 1987, Page 1. 6 Florida was designated as Region-9 for purposes of coordinated planning between local, state and federal agencies. 7 This older 800 MHz channel is generally called the “Florida 800 MHz Mutual Aid Channel” to distinguish it from the national mutual aid channels.

2 State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99 In 1996, adding to the efforts begun by NPSPAC, the Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee (PSWAC)8 further defined the needs for mutual aid communications. PSWAC’s Final Report to the FCC delineated the following obstacles to mutual aid communications9:

 The diversity of different frequency bands utilized by public safety agencies.  The sheer scarcity of channels available for interoperability.  Certain human and institutional factors, including lack of training, and agency reluctance to share scarce communications resources.  Lack of common communication modes among different types of systems; different communication modes such as trunking and non-trunking, or digital and analog, prevent intercommunication.  Lack of congruent coverage among systems for which interoperability is desired.  Limitations of commercial systems in their reliability, priority access, and command and control characteristics, which are critical to public safety communications.  Lack of an adequate nationwide mutual aid plan and incident command system to facilitate interoperability.

In late 1997, following some of the recommendations of the PSWAC report, the FCC allocated a third 800 MHz band to public safety10. These frequencies are derived from vacated TV channels and will not be fully available for several more years. Current planning efforts for the new band include proposals for several service-specific mutual aid Table 1 - Florida Emergency and Mutual-Aid Frequencies 11 channels , as well as more national FREQUENCY CTCSS BAND PRIMARY USE mutual aid channels. Final FCC rules are still pending on this 39.10/39.10 156.7 VHF Low Emergency Management frequency band. 39.18/39.18 156.7 VHF Low Emergency Management Table 1 lists all of the public safety 45.86/45.86 none VHF Low Law Enforcement Emergency frequencies currently available for emergency and mutual aid use 154.265/154.265 none VHF High Fire Mutual Aid (red) within Florida, including the 800 MHz channels. While this may 154.280/154.280 none VHF High Fire Mutual Aid (white) 154.295/154.295 none VHF High Fire Mutual Aid (blue) appear to be a sufficient number of 154.950/154.950 none VHF High Law Enforcement Emergency channels for any mutual aid 155.340/155.340 none VHF High Medical Resource Coord. operation, most of these channels, 155.370/155.370 none VHF High Law Enforcement Intercity except for the six 800 MHz mutual 460.275/465.275 none UHF Law Enforcement Emergency aid channels, are service-specific 463.175/463.175 167.9 UHF EMS Medical Resource & (limited to use within a specific Scene Coordination public safety service such as police, 463.175/468.175 167.9 UHF EMS Medical Coordination fire, or EMS). Secondly, agencies 853.3875/808.3875 210.7 800 Florida Mutual Aid Channel that operate within a single 866.0125/821.0125 156.7 800 National Calling Channel frequency band, as almost all do, 866.5125/821.5125 156.7 800 National Tactical Channel 1 867.0125/822.0125 156.7 800 National Tactical Channel 2 8 PSWAC included members from local, state and federal867.5125/822.5125 agencies as well156.7 as equipment800 manufacturers.National Tactical Channel 3 9 Final Report of the Public Safety Wireless Advisory868.0125/823.0125 Committee, September156.7 11,800 1996, pageNational 48. Tactical Channel 4 10 The newest 800 MHz band includes frequencies between 746 and 806 MHz. 11 “Service-specific” mutual aid channels are those dedicated to a particular public safety service such as police, or fire, or EMS.

3 State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99 cannot directly access frequencies of the other three bands. Consequently, local and state agencies which operate in different frequency bands, and/or which operate in different public safety disciplines below 800 MHz, cannot communicate with each other.

Historically, the service-specific mutual aid channels below 800 MHz have been essential for intra-service communication during disaster operations, but have been of limited benefit for communications between multiple public safety services. Likewise, techniques such as cross- banding or channel sharing have proven valuable for agencies which reside within a local area, but are inadequate when outside agencies are called to assist local disaster operations. These experiences indicate that mutual aid communications involving wide-area, multi-agency response must be accomplished on radio channels that are not exclusive to, or dependent on, the local day-to-day public safety communications system or its channels. Within the spectrum currently available to public safety, only the 800 MHz mutual aid channels are designed explicitly for this purpose. The 800 MHz mutual aid channels are the only channels available to all public safety agencies, and which are recognized nationwide for mutual aid use by local, state, and federal agencies.

Within Florida, at least 28 counties or major metropolitan areas have implemented an 800 MHz public safety communications system or are planning to do so as of mid- 1998. The geographic areas covered by these 800 MHz radio systems are shown by County or municipal 800 MHz the shaded areas in Figure 1. These systems public safety radio systems are predominately in the most populated areas of the state, representing nearly 90% of Florida’s population. Those that have Florida’s Joint Task Force 800 MHz radio system (Phases 1 & 2 only) been constructed in the newer 800 MHz band12 have generally included the capability for communication on the national mutual aid channels. Systems built Figure 1 using the older 800 MHz systems13 have incorporated the national mutual aid Figure 1 channels in some cases, but not in others.

The State of Florida Joint Task Force radio system, which includes two of the national 800 MHz mutual aid channels14, has been completed in 15 counties as of mid-1998, representing about 50% of Florida’s population. The hashed portions of Figure 1 indicate these areas. Together, the state and local 800 MHz systems provide 800 MHz radio coverage over 32 counties or County or municipalmetropolitan 800 MHz areas, representing over 90% of the state’s population15. Upon completion of the public safety radio systems 12 The newest of the 800 MHz bands includes the 821-824 / 866-869 MHz frequencies. This band also includes the five national mutual aid channels. 13 The older 800 MHz band includes the 806-821 / 851-866 MHz frequencies. This band includes the Florida Mutual Aid Channel. 14 Florida’s Joint Task Force 800 MHz radio system includes the national mutual aid Calling Channel as well as mutual aid Tactical Channel #1. 15 The percentage of population which has 800 MHz mutual aid channel coverage is somewhat less than 90%, since some of the local 800 MHz systems have not included those channels.

4 State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99 remaining phases of the Joint Task Force radio system, 100% of Florida’s population and geography will have coverage with at least two of the 800 MHz national mutual aid channels.

Approximately half of Florida’s land area has no local implementation of 800 MHz systems. In these primarily rural areas, all local government and public safety radio communications are completely dependent on VHF and UHF communications. In addition, some state agencies such as the Division of Forestry of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services operate entirely in bands below 800 MHz, and will continue to require mutual aid communications in the VHF and UHF bands. Supplemental 800 MHz radios for mutual aid will not entirely supplant the need for these agencies to maintain mutual aid capability in the lower frequency bands.

In view of these considerations, the Information Technology Division provides the following recommendations to improve mutual aid radio communications within Florida:

1. That the Information Technology Division develop a set of guidelines for implementation and use of mutual aid channels within Florida. These guidelines will be applicable to all state and local public safety agencies, and will include the emergency and mutual aid channels in all frequency bands. The Information Technology Division will provide coordination and engineering assistance for the implementation of the guidelines, as well as assistance in the implementation of the following recommendations.

2. That each public safety agency not currently operating on 800 MHz for its primary communications, and not planning to do so, procure 800 MHz mobile radios16 capable of operating on the five national mutual aid channels as well as the Florida 800 MHz mutual aid channel. These agencies include local law enforcement operating in the 39 counties not using 800 MHz17, an estimate of one-half of all Fire and EMS vehicles in the state18, and all Forestry vehicles. Approximate costs for purchasing these radios are shown in Table 2 below.

3. That each public safety agency currently operating in the 800 MHz band, but which has not implemented the 800 MHz mutual aid channels, modify its mobile and portable radios so that each is capable of operating on the five national mutual aid channels as well as the Florida 800 MHz mutual aid channel. The number of agencies and radios in this category is not yet determined, but would generally include the oldest of the 800 MHz radio systems within Florida.

4. That each public safety dispatch center and emergency operations center implement radio- frequency (RF) control stations to enable communications with mobile radios over the state or local 800 MHz mutual aid repeater stations19. At least two RF control stations would be

16 Less costly portable (hand-held) radios may be used in lieu of mobile radios in some circumstances. Portable radios provide less coverage range, making them unusable for repeater communications in some areas. 17 Using the total population of these 39 counties (1.6 million), and a factor of 2.2 local law enforcement officers per 1000 population, we estimate that 3600 officers are not currently using 800 MHz radios. The factor of 2.2/1000 is a statewide average derived from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s 1986 Annual Report “Crime in Florida”. 18 Actual quantities of Fire and EMS vehicles not using 800 MHz are not yet known. We suggest 50% of the known numbers of vehicles as an initial estimate only.

5 State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99 required for each agency20, at a cost of approximately $5,000 per station. We estimate that 3200 such stations will be needed for complete statewide operation21, for a total of $16,000,000. Of that total, we estimate that 25% ($4,000,000) is currently needed within the 15-county area in which the State’s Joint Task Force is already operational, and that 75% ($12,000,000) will be needed in the remainder of the state upon completion of the Joint Task Force system in those areas. These costs are shown in Table 2 below.

5. That implementation of the Joint Task Force 800 MHz radio system be continued throughout the remainder of Florida, and that its scope in the remaining project phases be expanded to include base station repeaters on all five of the national mutual aid channels in areas of the state which have not installed (nor planned to install) those channels (43 counties). Its scope should further be expanded to implement base station repeaters on the Florida 800 MHz mutual aid channel in the most populated regions of the state22. Approximate costs for implementing this expansion of the Joint Task Force system is shown in Table 2 below. These costs represent the additional monies required for the Joint Task Force to expand its base station systems over and above the two national mutual aid channels already being implemented.

19 Implementation of RF control stations can only occur in areas where base station repeaters have been established on the mutual aid channels. As of mid-1998, approximately 24 counties have either installed such stations, plan to install them, or are provided with coverage by the Joint Task Force radio system. 20 One of the RF control stations will be dedicated to the national mutual aid calling channel. The second station will be capable of multi-channel (but not simultaneous) operation on any of the national mutual aid tactical channels, and on the Florida 800 MHz Mutual Aid Channel in areas where it is available. Some local configurations will require more than two RF control stations in order to control interference, or to enable simultaneous operation on multiple channels. 21 The total number of RF control stations is based on an estimated quantity of 450 police departments, 450 fire departments, 300 hospital emergency departments, 242 ambulance services, 67 sheriff’s departments, and 67 county emergency operations centers. 22 These are proposed to include the 15 counties having over 250,000 population, which are Brevard, Broward, Dade, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Lee, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia

6 State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99

Quantity Description Unit Extended Cost Cost 3600 Mobile Radios for Law Enforcement Agencies $2,000 $7,200,000 880 Mobile Radios for Fire Agencies $2,000 $1,760,000 1150 Mobile Radios for Emergency Medical Service Agencies $2,000 $2,300,000 1500 Mobile Radios for Forestry Vehicles $2,000 $3,000,000 7130 Installation $150 $1,069,500 Total Mobile Radio Costs $15,329,500

800 MHz RF Control Stations for local and state public safety agencies Quantity Description Unit Extended Cost Cost 800 RF control stations for use in the JTF Phase 1 and 2 areas (15 counties) $5,000 $4,000,000 2400 RF control stations for future use in the JTF Phase 3, 4, and 5 areas (52 $5,000 $12,000,000 counties) Total RF Control Station Costs $16,000,000

Additional Mutual Aid Base Stations for the Joint Task Force Quantity Description Unit Extended Cost Cost 116 Base Station Repeater for National Mutual Aid Tactical Channel #2 $35,000 $4,060,000 116 Base Station Repeater for National Mutual Aid Tactical Channel #3 $35,000 $4,060,000 116 Base Station Repeater for National Mutual Aid Tactical Channel #4 $35,000 $4,060,000 77 Base Station Repeater for the Florida 800 MHz Mutual Aid Channel $35,000 $2,695,000 Total Base Station Costs $14,875,000 TOTAL COSTS $46,204,500

7 State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99 ATTACHMENT 1

Communications Technologies for Public Safety Mutual Aid Communications

COMMUNICATIONS PROS CONS TECHNOLOGIES Plain Old Telephone Service  Inexpensive to implement and  Offers only fixed communication; (POTS) maintain mobile capability not possible  Interoperable  May be unreliable due to overload  Simple to operate or outage during disasters Cellular Telephone  Mobile operation  Offers one-on-one  Inexpensive to implement and communications, but group maintain communications is limited  No infrastructure required  May be unreliable due to overload  No FCC licensing required during disaster situations  Simple to operate  Public safety features not available Personal Communications  Mobile operation  Offers one-on-one Systems (PCS)  Inexpensive to implement and communications, but group maintain communications is limited  No infrastructure required  May be unreliable due to overload  No FCC licensing required during disaster situations  Simple to operate  Public safety features may not be available Specialized Mobile Radio  Inexpensive to implement and  User costs increase as group size Systems (SMR) maintain increases  No infrastructure required  Systems integrity and reliability  Interoperable in the U.S. usually not public safety grade  Simple to operate  Public safety features may not be  Offers one-on-one and group available communications  Subject to equipment obsolescence due to system changes  Requires FCC licensing VHF-Low Band Public  Fixed and mobile operation  Public safety grade equipment has Safety Systems  Established technology become less available  Relatively inexpensive equipment  Subject to noise and skip  Interoperable interference  Simple to operate  Repeater pairs difficult to achieve within bandwidth of antenna and mobile equipment  Mobile and portable antennas become undesirably long  Few public safety services currently have systems in place for mutual aid communications  Requires FCC licensing

8 State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99

VHF-High Band Public  Fixed and mobile operation  Established mutual aid channels Safety Systems  Established technology offer no repeater operation for  Relatively inexpensive equipment mobile-to-mobile operation  Interoperable  Not all public safety agencies  Simple to operate have this band for mutual aid  Public safety grade equipment operation readily available  Limited channel availability  Repeater pairs are possible within prevents establishing more mutual bandwidth of antenna and mobile aid channels in this band equipment  Most populated areas have  Mutual aid channels implemented migrated from this band to 800 in various areas of Florida MHz for mutual aid  Propagates better than higher  Requires FCC licensing bands  Mobile antenna less obtrusive than with lower bands UHF Public Safety Systems  Fixed and mobile operation  Not all public safety agencies  Established technology have this band for mutual aid  Relatively inexpensive equipment operation  Interoperable  Limited channel availability  Simple to operate prevents establishing more mutual  Public safety grade equipment aid channels in this band readily available  Most populated areas have  Repeater pairs are established in migrated from this band to 800 this band for antenna and mobile MHz for mutual aid equipment  MED-8 compromised due to lack  Mutual aid channels implemented of funding and enforcement in various areas of Florida  MED-8 traffic ignored due to  MED-8 still specifically required frequent traffic not intended for by the EMS Communications listener Plan  Requires FCC licensing  Up to two mutual aid channels established for statewide implementation  Provides improved building penetration  Mobile antenna relatively smaller size 800 MHz Pubic Safety  Fixed and mobile operation  Equipment more costly than in Systems  Established technology lower bands  Interoperable on conventional  More expensive infrastructure for channels trunked or simulcast operation  Simple to operate  Not all public safety agencies  Public safety grade equipment have this band for mutual aid readily available operation  Provides improved building  Requires FCC licensing penetration  Standard repeater pairs are established in this band  Mobile antenna relatively small size  The most populated areas have migrated to this band

9 State of Florida, Department of Management Services, Information Technology Division 12/06/99  Two mutual aid channels to be implemented statewide by the State of Florida  Up to 6 mutual aid channels are established for implementation statewide  More mutual aid channels are expected from new 24 MHz of spectrum allocated  Monitoring more likely due to disciplined channel assignments by Network Control Centers for each defined area Satellite Communications  Coverage worldwide  Public safety features not Systems  May be used as backup or for available supplementary use during  Dispatcher operation not available disasters  Public safety agencies subject to  No infrastructure required equipment obsolescence due to  No FCC licensing required system changes  Cannot control coverage geographically  Provides no interagency communications other than telephone  No dedicated emergency button  Cannot use common public safety mutual aid frequencies  Coverage requires line-of-sight paths (bridges, buildings, etc. may block signals) Cross-patch between systems  Offers flexibility in mobile band  Not simple to implement of operation  Reduces channel efficiency by  Can satisfy limited local needs one-half during emergencies  Requires all potential bands of operation implemented into backbone systems  Limited to 2 channels per patch