Signal Lost and $430 Million Wasted | Citizens Against Government Waste

Signal Lost and $430 Million Wasted

The WasteWatcher

Following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, the 9/11 Commission identified the need for an interoperable communication network among the nation’s first responders.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was tasked with creating a common channel that different types of first responders could access.  After more than a decade and $430 million spent, the system impedes rather than improves communication among first responders.

A May 27, 2015 DHS Office of Inspector General (IG) report on a test of 17 users of interoperable radios from Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Coast Guard and found that seven successfully accessed the channel, two experienced trouble with access, and eight were not even aware of the channel’s existence. 

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) did not take part in the test because the radios at the location visited were not programmed with the common channel.  The TSA manager stated that they do not need the common channel to communicate, as they did so via phones, radios, or in person.  However, the manager made a contradictory statement, noting that TSA communication systems failed during the Boston Marathon bombings, and that the common channel would have served a purpose at that time.  When the manager was asked about concerns with radio interoperability, “he noted an incident where all airports in the area lost Internet and telephone services and had to use the Military Auxiliary Radios Systems to communicate with other components and law enforcement agencies.” 

The IG has previously noted problems with the common channel.  A November 2012 audit found that “only 1 of 479 radio users we reviewed could access and communicate using the specified common channel.  Further, of the 382 radios we tested, only 20 percent (78) contained all the correct program settings, including the name, for the common DHS channel.”  According to the audit, the recurring problems were due to DHS’ inability to manage and set regulations in order to provide unity across the various first responder agencies.  

Unfortunately, these problems appear to be likely to continue for quite some time.  The May 2015 IG report indicated that the agency has been “unable to provide a timetable for finalizing and disseminating these documents throughout the Department.”  One reason for this finding is that DHS has yet to make the channel mandatory; making it compulsory would push the agency to complete this long-standing problem.

Remarkably, more than a decade after the 9/11 Commission, and after hundreds of millions of dollars spent, the nation’s first responders still do not have an adequate interoperable communications system.

Jessica Chesloski

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