NCJ Number
202508
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 51 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2003 Pages: 60-62
Date Published
August 2003
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the interoperability program for public safety agencies in the various jurisdictions of the Washington Metropolitan area, which enables these agencies to communicate with one another in coordinating operations that involve multiple agencies.
Abstract
Until recently, the public safety agencies of the Washington Metropolitan area had incompatible radio communications, making effective coordination of interagency operations impossible. In 2000, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) of the U.S. Justice Department funded an interoperability project for the Washington area. This project is supervised by Lieutenant Eddie Reyes of the Alexandria Police Department (Virginia). Currently, when an Alexandria police officer needs to talk to any of the region's 15 neighboring police, fire, emergency services, and transportation agencies, he/she simply asks the dispatcher to connect him/her. By installing two JPS Communications ACU-1000 Modular Interconnect Systems multiple NXU-2 VoIP (Voice over IP) network extenders, the region's radio incompatibility problems have been resolved. In addition, first response and investigatory coordination between departments has been improved. Although this interoperability system constitutes a model for all law enforcement agencies, it should not be slavishly copied. Solutions must be tailored to each region's needs.