NCJ Number
216825
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 54 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2006 Pages: 20,23,24
Date Published
December 2006
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Fairfax County annual Command, Control, and Communications Vehicle Rallies designed to assist in the education and training of small to large departments in the operation of interoperable radio equipment.
Abstract
In response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Federal Government responded with significant funding to public safety agencies to buy interoperable radio equipment. However, many agencies that received the equipment were ill trained or not trained at all in operating the equipment. In response to the lack of training, Fairfax County started holding annual Command, Control, and Communications Vehicle Rallies at its Police Driver Training Facility. The idea behind the rally brings together as many people with interoperable radio equipment as possible. The objectives of the rally are to train equipment operators, to show decisionmakers what other departments have chosen and are doing in radio interoperability, and to educate first responder engineers and technicians by jointly conducting interoperability exercises. Technical representatives/vendors are invited to take part in the rally. This article discusses the results of the rally and how other police departments can setup their own Command, Control, and Communications Vehicle rallies. These events go a long way into making interoperability work. The article concludes with a summation on the need for such rallies.