By Keone Kali, FirstNet Region 9 Lead
The Arizona Initial Consultation meeting was held earlier this year at the Arizona State Capitol Building, in the Governor’s Conference Room, where 65 attendees from a broad set of public safety disciplines met with the FirstNet team. Gil Orrantia, the Director of Homeland Security for the State of Arizona, provided opening remarks and emphasized that the initial consultation is Arizona’s opportunity to share its needs.
The participants were engaged in conversations regarding rural deployment, the State Plan decision, and the excess use of the spectrum. The state also shared a full report on its data collection efforts.
Captain Mike Worrell of the Phoenix Fire Department, who is now FirstNet Senior Fire Services Advisor, presented a use case on wildland fires and the potential for the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) to increase safety and situational awareness. Jesse Cooper of the Phoenix Police Department presented on the extent to which data was used by public safety during Super Bowl XLIX. Following provide more details on their presentations:
Use Case: Super Bowl XLIX
Jesse Cooper of the Phoenix Police Department presented on the 2015 Super Bowl in Phoenix, which brought more than one million visitors to the downtown area for the game and related events. Because the Super Bowl was given a Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) of 1, federal resources were sent to support state and local entities. In total, more than 100 agencies were involved in security for the high-profile event.
The Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC) included Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Aviation Administration; the Intelligence Operations Center was the base for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In addition, the Interoperability Regional Working Group (IRWG) included a large list of partners. The IRWG’s focus was voice, but data was a significant component in Super Bowl XLIX. The communications team used a private microwave backhaul and set up video feeds from cameras located around in the stadium, downtown area, mobile units, and fixed and rotary wing aircraft. The team also used radio over internet protocol for some operations and many of the responders relied on their smartphones or hotspots.
One of the large commercial carriers enhanced its coverage and capacity in the downtown area and around the stadium and the MACC for the Super Bowl. Had this been an unplanned event, this additional coverage and capacity would not have been possible, and even with the enhanced capacity, the system was used to its maximum at high-use time periods.
Jesse expects that in the future, mobile data will be used for real-time monitoring of body-worn cameras, location tracking of personnel, notifications based on specific events (e.g., unholstering of a weapon, Taser use, body armor impact), field-based reporting, biometrics, and telemetry. All of these capabilities will need the backhaul provided by FirstNet to get the information back to the Public Safety Answering Point.
Use Case: Wildland Fires
Mike Worrell shared that when responding to a wildfire, entire teams of responders will converge on the location and practically build a new city to support the effort. There will also be outlying sites that will need to have connectivity back to personnel and the central command center. From those locations, responders need access to data that will support all aspects of fighting the fire - logistics, personnel tracking, command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
New tracking technology, known as the Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) program, was developed for the military by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and is being tested in Arizona in hopes that it can prevent future first responder deaths. The technology was developed to help identify bombing targets and is being tested for its capability to locate firefighters in wildland fire environments and for other uses. The technology will help firefighters to identify their location and mark important items on the map to share with all of the other users. Shared information can include lookout positions, assigned radio channels for geofenced areas, escape routes, safety zones, and other important information like water sources. This way the units on the ground will know everything incident command knows and vice versa. Ultimately, FirstNet will enable this type of technology through the NPSBN, which will improve information sharing and the safety of the pubic and first responders.
Thanks to all of the public safety representatives who joined us at the consultation. We look forward to continuing to work with Arizona to plan for and deploy the NPSBN.
- Keone
