Creating a Common Operating Picture: The Los Angeles Regional Common Operational Picture Program Employs Technologies To Improve Off-Site Emergency Operations Communications

• NCJ Number: 219974
• Journal: Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 34 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2007 Pages: 64,66,68,71
• Author(s): Lois Pilant Grossman
• Date Published: July 2007
• Length: 6 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The Los Angeles Regional Common Operational Picture Program (LARCOPP) developed a concept and harnessed technologies that enable onsite incident commanders to gather data electronically and transmit it to personnel at off-site emergency operation centers (EOCs) as well as to other agencies, jurisdictions, and disciplines.

Abstract

Information handled by LARCOPP flows according to California's Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS), which helps unify the State's emergency management organization into a single integrated system. SEMS incorporates the incident command system and has five organizational levels that are activated as necessary: field response, local government, operational area, region, and State. LARCOPP can provide information to all levels of the SEMS structure and from each incident site, thereby providing command staff information from each site location. Command decisions can thus be made based on information from all agencies and disciplines involved in an emergency response. The response can then be guided by tactical decisions that take into account information transmitted to the command center about all phases of the operation. The LARCOPP technology has three integrated programs. The LARCOPP Portal is a secure, Web-based platform that can transmit real-time video of an incident through deployable wireless broadband digital cameras or a video uplink from a news agency camera or from footage shot by the helicopter of a public safety agency. The LARCOPP Alert and Notification System facilitates the simultaneous emergency notification of public safety agencies, government officials, and key decisionmakers that an incident has occurred; it advises them to log onto the LARCOPP Portal for additional information. The LARCOPP Event Network allows key decisionmakers to collaborate quickly through a secure conference call. The system is activated when the LARCOPP Alert and Notification System informs key personnel that a critical event is occurring.