The Cupertino Courier

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Lessons from 9-11 prompt local plan for hand radios

Being able to talk to each other in emergencies is goal

By HUGH BIGGAR

When it comes to emergency services, Santa Clara County cities are hoping, eventually, to be on the same wavelength.

At the moment, due to radio equipment operating on different frequencies, city police and fire departments are able to talk to each other but not with other agencies.

"It's a big problem but steadily improving," said Dave Knapp, Cupertino's city manager. Knapp said Cupertino, for instance, had limited capacity to talk to Sunnyvale's Department of Public Safety.

As a result, a local task force representing 25 agencies, the Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Project, has been working to improve regional communications. Through government grants, particularly from the Department of Homeland Security, the task force has begun programs to improve radio communications between cities and agencies.

"The Santana Row fire was one recent example where interoperability would have made a big difference," said Steve Lodge, chairman of the interoperability project and chief of police in Santa Clara.

Dave Anderson, Saratoga's city manager, who serves on the interoperability project with Knapp and Lodge, said the events of 9-11 drew national attention to the issue.

"During 9-11, responders were not able to talk directly with each other," Anderson said. "[Communications] had to be done by relay, which slowed things down considerably."

Those working on the county-wide project hope that won't be the case if a disaster hits Santa Clara County.

"It's not so much a problem on the day-to-day level, but during major emergencies or big events," Knapp said, pointing out many emergency crews during the 1991 Oakland hills fire were unable to talk to each other. "Interoperability makes it easier [to coordinate], especially if cell

phones go dead or lines go down," he said.

One of the first programs in development to make that happen is E-COMM, which connects neighboring dispatch centers. Another in-development project is VOIP, or Voice over Radio Internet protocol, allowing for telephone conversations online.

Capt. Terry Calderone of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, which polices Cupertino, said his agency uses BayMACS.

"It's a frequency that allows us to talk to other police departments in the county," Calderone said. "We've only had a few problems."

Lodge said BayMACS can be limited. "It's tremendous progress but with everyone using one channel it can quickly get overwhelmed," he said. Lodge said he hopes more funding becomes available to help speed along projects such as E-COMM.

"All of the agencies are working tremendously hard to solve this," he said.

"To be able to talk to each other is crucial," Knapp said. "We're improving slowly, but funding is the limiting factor."