By Jeremy Zollo, FirstNet Deputy Director of State Consultation
More than 60 stakeholders from tribal, local, and state entities in Wisconsin gathered in Madison for their Initial Consultation meeting earlier this year. The meeting featured a lively discussion of the state’s needs, FirstNet’s plans, and Wisconsin’s coverage objectives for the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN).
Wisconsin also presented three use cases to address three diverse perspectives on the future of public safety broadband. Captain Mike Bolender of the Oak Creek Police Department recounted his department’s experience responding to the August 2012 Sikh temple shooting, noting that a dedicated public safety broadband network would have been valuable for transmitting mission critical communications and improving situational awareness. Gerry Klein, Director of Marathon County Information Technology, described some of the coverage and capacity challenges in a topographically diverse county with a wide range of population densities. Captain Dave Gerber of the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office discussed the communications challenges his officers experience while providing security for concerts at Alpine Valley, which regularly draws crowds of 35,000 or more people. These uses cases are discussed in more detail below:
Sikh Temple Shooting
Captain Mike Bolender, Oak Creek Police Department
On August 5, 2012, a man entered the Wisconsin Sikh Gurdwara temple, where he killed six people and wounded several others. Public safety’s response demanded the efforts of more than 500 personnel, including nine K-9 units, two explosive ordinance disposal units, five Level 7 Strategic Management Assessment and Response Team squads, and eight tactical units, from across 61 different agencies. Coordinating radio communications for personnel from 61 agencies proved challenging, and investigators experienced difficulty circulating intelligence, photos, diagrams, and maps. The immediate solution to these challenges was short-term: responders linked up physically, used cell phones, and conducted physical checks with individuals acting as rovers. A dedicated public safety broadband network could have aided in the response by supporting a voice communications, providing access to the communications of all parties involved, and providing the ability to instantly share photos, maps, descriptions, and videos to enhance situational awareness.
Marathon County Mobile Environment
Gerry Klein, Director of Marathon County Information Technology
At 1,500 square miles, Marathon County is the largest county in Wisconsin. It features farmland in the west, a 600 foot mountain in the center, and heavy woods and rolling hills in the east and north. The population consists of 135,000 residents, the majority of whom live in the Wausau metropolitan area. For its public safety data needs, the county is decommissioning 3G air-cards in favor of trunk-mounted wireless routers with hotspot capabilities. These routers currently provide 82 percent coverage, but like many rural counties, the best coverage is concentrated in the metropolitan area and the interstate corridor. The county uses a device which can track the movement of the trunk-mounted wireless routers and evaluate coverage availability at every point in the journey. Mr. Klein is using this capability to identify areas most in need of coverage. At the meeting, we discussed ways to take advantage of this information to inform FirstNet’s state plan for Wisconsin.
Alpine Valley Music Theater
Captain Dave Gerber of the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office
The Alpine Valley Music Theater, a venue with a capacity of 35,000 in Walworth County, is one of Wisconsin’s premier live music venues. During a typical event at the theater, the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office deploys two command posts to coordinate traffic control, internal and external patrols, and undercover operations. At the command posts, Internet activity is required for computer aided dispatch, evidence processing, access to their Records Management System, and various other functions. Unfortunately, given the venue’s rural location, connectivity speeds are slow and coverage can be poor. Additionally, even though commercial wireless companies deploy mobile towers to supplement existing infrastructure, the network cannot support traffic from the 35,000 concert-goers and often experiences congestion. The Walworth County Sheriff’s Office has developed various short-term solutions to these challenges, including the use of a cellular-based virtual private network tunnel, priority service, ruggedized modems, and hotspots around cars, but the agency envisions a dedicated public safety broadband network as a more permanent, long-term solution.
In addition to these discussions, Wisconsin also presented on its outreach and data collection efforts. For data collection, the state discussed how it was utilizing the Mobile Data Survey Tool and working with local agencies to learn more about coverage needs.
I would like to thank everyone who participated in the meeting and for the informative set of use cases. We look forward to working with the state’s new single point of contact, Dennis Fortunato, and his team to plan and deploy the NPSBN in Wisconsin.
- Jeremy
