By Amanda Hilliard, FirstNet Director of Outreach

More than 60 public safety stakeholders representing the major disciplines and local, state, and federal government gathered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for the state’s Initial Consultation earlier this year.  Mark Wrightstone, the Statewide Interoperability Coordinator (SWIC), introduced attendees to the Commonwealth’s current communications capabilities, including the statewide land mobile radio (LMR) system PA-STARNet used by more than two dozen state agencies. He explained that the network enables both voice and data traffic, uses 800 megahertz (MHz) trunked digital technology, provides 97 percent statewide coverage, and services more than 25,000 authorized subscriber devices.

Mark also shared that PA-STARNet has “extensive experience” with interoperable public safety communications, making it “ideally suited to coordinate Pennsylvania’s response to the federal FirstNet program and its mission to improve radio communications for first responders.”   State public safety officials also presented use case scenarios to demonstrate how the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) could improve interoperability, capacity, and reliability in the state.

Blizzards

Captain Williams, Pennsylvania State Police

In February 2007, two significant storm fronts came together over Pennsylvania, producing heavy snows that interrupted power and telephone services.  The storm blocked approximately 150 miles of roadways and stranded some drivers in their vehicles for more than 20 hours.  With respect to communications, the storms caused numerous failures among road sensors and power, telephone, radio, and backup systems.  Situational awareness was unavailable as a result.

Captain Williams stated that, “adding a dedicated public safety broadband network will allow public safety officials to effectively do their jobs even when typical networks or means of communications fail.”  He specifically mentioned that public safety grade voice and data communications would have enhanced interoperability and benefited first responders during this severe winter storm.

Gas Explosion

Michael Hilbert, Superintendent of Communications, City of Allentown

In February 2011, a natural gas leak caused an explosion and massive fire in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  Two homes were destroyed and five lives were lost by the time the fire was extinguished.  Allentown’s Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) received more than 300 9-1-1 calls within one hour.  Full regional mutual aid was requested to respond to the explosion.  The communications center was able to transfer command and control to the scene, which permitted first responders to communicate effectively even though very high frequency (VHF) interoperability did not work well among the fire departments on the scene.  After the event, however, it was determined that this failure was a procedural issue and not technology-based.  In the field, first responders had data access via mobile data terminals and wireless access through commercial broadband, but there was no reliable way for the first responders to transfer data to incoming support.

Events

Mark Wrightstone, Pennsylvania State Police

Baltimore Riots

In April 2015, Pennsylvania sent 300 State Troopers to Baltimore, Maryland, to assist with security during protests.  Without PA-STARNet, radio communications were a challenge.  Mr. Wrightstone stressed that the NPSBN will benefit Pennsylvania when its first responders are outside their everyday radio network’s coverage.  However, even without PA-STARNet, Pennsylvania was able to interoperate with Maryland State Police and Baltimore City Police on their 700 MHz radio system.

Hurricane Sandy

In November 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck New Jersey causing significant property damage and severely affected public safety communications.  Over numerous deployments, Pennsylvania sent equipment and approximately 250 State Troopers and communications specialists to assist the New Jersey State Police and local New Jersey agencies.  With communications nearly completely compromised, Pennsylvania brought VHF radios and was able to communicate among their teams and command post.

Papal Visit- September 2015

The state discussed Pope Francis’ planned visit to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, which took place after the consultation meeting.  With as many as six million visitors to the Philadelphia area expected for the Pope visit, public safety and first responders’ ability to communicate effectively during his visit were key focuses for the Commonwealth.  Anticipated issues include large traffic volume, commercial network failure, security, and street/highway closures.  To prepare communications for the historic event, Pennsylvania discussed how they had put a command and control structure in place and deploying communications resources.  Multiple LMR systems, as well as New Jersey’s JerseyNet  (a deployable broadband network),  would be involved, in addition to aviation video links and technical communications personnel, who would be strategically placed on the ground to support first responders.

Manhunt

Robert Barnham, Pennsylvania State Police

On September 12, 2014, Eric Matthew Frein shot and killed Corporal Bryon K. Dickson II, an officer of the Pennsylvania State Police, and shot and critically injured Trooper Alex Douglass, another state trooper, in Pike County, Pennsylvania.  The manhunt for Frein took nearly seven weeks and involved both federal and state authorities.  Frein was captured on October 30, 2014 after the largest manhunt in Pennsylvania’s history.  

Mr. Barnham explained that, within the effort, law enforcement relied heavily on portable radio use in challenging terrain.  With a large concentration of law enforcement in a relatively small area, there was competition for the same resources.  Additionally, there was a high demand for bandwidth during the manhunt, specifically for the transmission of video data.  As a result, public safety relied on deployable assets to augment coverage and capacity.  Mr. Barnham stressed that the entire response and search effort went beyond voice communications; it relied on the first responders’ ability to exchange data and video.  He stressed how the NPSBN could enhance the Pennsylvania State Police’s ability to function effectively in the future during a similar event.

Pennsylvania’s afternoon presentations highlighted the Commonwealth’s progress in reaching out to stakeholders to inform them about FirstNet and to collect information about data communications.  Pennsylvania has completed 90 sessions reaching over 2,100 stakeholders, and they have collected survey data from 33 of 67 counties. For more information on the Commonwealth’s data collection efforts, please visit their website.  [Update:  Pennsylvania successfully submitted its data to FirstNet by the 9/30/15 deadline and it included user and device data for 71 agencies and 300 Field staff, as well as detailed coverage objectives and priorities.]

Thanks to the Pennsylvania Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Major Diane Stackhouse and her team, including the use case presenters, for helping arrange and execute a great discussion among the attendees.  We look forward to continuing to work together with Pennsylvania.

-Amanda