CentralSquare’s Unify software works with any CAD system and allows communicators to see assets from other jurisdictions and agencies and with permission send them to emergencies.CentralSquare Technologies
Interoperability has long been a buzzword in the law enforcement and other public safety professions. Usually, the term applies to interagency radio or police and fire communications, but it can also apply to other communications tools.
Since 2008, CentralSquare has been developing and implementing an interoperability technology that allows 911 call centers to share computer-aided dispatch (CAD) information. Last year, this CAD to CAD software product was rebranded as Unify.
CentralSquare’s Unify works with any CAD system and allows emergency call center personnel to see assets from other agencies in the area. This means that with permission through a mutual aid agreement a dispatcher can send a unit from another agency, county, or city to an emergency right from their own CAD because it is closer to the people in need or because it possesses capabilities that are currently not available in their jurisdiction.
Unify allows agencies to build cooperative CAD networks in the same geographic region and among different call centers. “At some point an emergency call center needs to talk to somebody outside your zone, and they’re going to be on a different CAD systems, or could be,” says Scott Panacek, product manager for CentralSquare. “So that’s where Unify comes in; it provides a standard way to communicate.”
Panacek likens CentralSquare’s vendor agnostic Unify technology to a language translator. “Let’s say you had three law enforcement officers collaborating on the same incident. But one spoke English, one spoke Spanish, and one spoke Portuguese. They would need a translator. So that’s kind of what the Unify system does for different CAD systems. It allows CAD functions like dispatching units to happen from CAD vendor to CAD vendor.” Panacek stresses that none of the participants has to be using CentralSquare’s CAD in order to build a CAD to CAD network with Unify. They do, however, all have to have a subscription to Unify.
What makes Unify capable of communicating across so many different CAD systems from different CAD vendors is CentralSquare’s open application programming interface (API), according to Panacek.
“We’ve got open API that we provide to any CAD vendor, and it exposes the commands and rules that their system need to communicate with another agency’s system,” he explains. “There’s a data map that they can copy their data and their codes into. So everything maps to something common in the middle.”
When using Unify, an emergency communicator can see all of the CAD-visible assets from the participating agencies. With permission from the owners of the assets, the communicator can dispatch them to incidents in another response area or jurisdiction.
Panacek says the responding units are dispatched via their agencies existing mobile system . For the emergency communications personnel, using Unify does not change their procedures or what they see on the screen. The only difference is that it adds commands for mutual aid.
The primary benefit of Unify for the public, for emergency responders, and for 911 centers is that it saves time. Cross-jurisdiction dispatch of public safety assets can literally save lives by facilitating faster response. For emergency responders it can reduce travel time, making it easier for agencies with personnel shortages to answer more calls.
Emergency communications centers are also experiencing personnel shortages, and Unify can also help them save time. “They don’t have to hunt around searching for the proper person to call and spend time on the phone asking for assistance,” Panacek says.
Unify can also let an overwhelmed communications center ask for help from another in their CAD-to-CAD network. “If they’re linked together, one communications center can pick up the call and get the units on the way for the other center,” Panacek says.
Chief information officers and their IT teams at colleges and universities have critical roles to play during an emergency, particularly when it comes to managing communications and campus security infrastructure.
As new technologies continue to streamline operations and enhance campus security at colleges and universities, CIOs and their IT teams are playing an increasingly central role in crisis management planning and emergency communication efforts.
According to Jim Jorstad, a senior fellow for the Center for Digital Education and retired emeritus interim CIO at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, the work of university IT personnel often involves facilitating communication, through the alert systems that notify students and faculty about everything from closures due to inclement weather to active shooter situations. He said it’s important for universities to have a crisis management plan that’s regularly updated and includes technology and communication strategies created with the input of IT personnel.
“You need to break down your plan into specific steps and protocols,” he said. “The role of IT services in a crisis can involve obtaining, retaining and distributing sensitive data, phone records, cell communications, and collecting and securing technology hardware. IT can be an active player in communicating a crisis event and the actual impact, management and resolution.”
Jorstad said that as universities become increasingly tech-integrated and reliant on alert systems for crisis management, IT leaders should work closely with public information officers and university communications to keep everyone on campus informed of crises and protocols, as well as to ensure security systems are in working order.
“When you look at your campus communications, IT typically manages your university alert systems, probably with your security [personnel] on your campus, as well as your email, campus tech services. … You may have on-site alerts, and your IT team is likely involved with that,” he said. “Your IT department typically will manage your surveillance camera systems too, so I think there’s always going to be a need for IT to be at the table.”
Ron Bergmann, also a senior fellow for the Center for Digital Education, and an IT consultant and former CIO at Lehman College in New York, said universities should look to have “cross-functional” crisis management teams that include presidents and provosts, as well as members of public safety, communications, student affairs, legal and IT departments, to best determine how to use resources and communication planning in crisis response scenarios.
He noted that institutions should have crisis response playbooks, checklists, notification and communication protocols based on lessons learned from previous campus emergencies and crisis scenarios, such as natural disasters, power or network outages, cyber attacks and active shooter situations.
Bergmann added that besides managing security and communication infrastructure, IT can also play an important role in managing and analyzing data relevant to specific situations to inform the planning process.
“You’re not going to be successful if you don’t have robust cross-functional planning, and IT has to be part of that,” he said. “The role of IT can’t be underestimated … having IT help with strategy development, planning and documentation is very much in keeping with how IT should be operated generally.”
Jorstad said universities and IT departments tasked with helping manage alert systems should also consider multiple communication channels, including via email, text messaging, social media, the university’s website and campus information hotlines, in order to reach as many people as possible when urgency is a factor. He said schools shouldn’t rely too heavily on email notifications for these scenarios, adding that text notifications tend to work better for students and personnel who do not check emails regularly.
“I really highly recommend an email integration system where you can add graphics and [see] when people open emails so you get a sense of who is reading this stuff,” he said.
Aside from communication-related efforts, Bergmann said IT teams often have to play an even more hands-on role, as when universities pivoted to and expanded online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Not everything was an IT issue, but eventually IT had a big role,” he said.
According to Steven Zink, also a senior fellow for the Center for Digital Education, and former IT leader at the University of Nevada-Reno, IT teams have been increasingly tasked with managing technology related to campus surveillance, especially amid growing concerns about school shootings.
“After the Virginia Tech shooting, we on the campuses all became aware of our vulnerability. At that stage in the progress of IT across most campuses, there was still a great deal to be done to enhance infrastructure, which was far more primitive than today,” he said. “We in IT at UNR were intimately involved with the development of campus security and safety and were on the emergency teams, helping to implement more safety-based IT infrastructure.”
Zink said an additional tech layer to consider when it comes to emergency response is the increased use of Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled technologies like “smart lock” systems that can access and lock doors remotely.
“IoT became very important [in recent years] for monitoring lots of different systems around campus,” he said.
Brandon Paykamian is a staff writer for Government Technology. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from East Tennessee State University and years of experience as a multimedia reporter, mainly focusing on public education and higher ed.
Both during and in the recovery from the pandemic, cities, towns and villages across the country recognized the need to invest locally in efforts to advance public safety and justice. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides a variety of options for municipalities to invest in their local safety and justice ecosystems through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) program. Those working on the front lines every day face a unique set of challenges that require specific and strategic investments. Investing in needs like equipment, training, mental health support, pilot programs, data infrastructure and more can make a difference in the ability to keep residents safe and supported.
NLC research has shown that within the Public Safety spending group identified in the Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker, cities and consolidated city counties have obligated:
46% of Public Safety funds to Other Public Safety
Examples: Purchasing ambulances and investing in equipment to reduce backlogs for medical examiner offices. etc.
32% of Public Safety funds to Police Departments
Examples: Purchasing rapid DNA testing equipment to exonerate those that are accused of crimes and funding for micro-grants in communities experiencing high crime.
14% of Public Safety funds to Violence Reduction and Prevention
Examples: Expanding mobile crisis response, expanding wraparound services for domestic violence survivors and group violence reduction strategy.
8% of Public Safety funds to Fire Departments
Examples: Hiring and training of fire department staff, purchasing equipment including pumper trucks, aerials, rescue units, and air packs.
This blog highlights spending ideas for how to meet the 2024 obligations deadline; however, be sure to review Treasury’s Final Rule for compliance and reporting guidance.
Spending Opportunities The spending opportunities in the table below include public health spending examples from municipalities of varying sizes with different categories of spending (low, medium, and high cost) to obligate remaining funds. The Public Safety spending category was developed in partnership with NLC, Brookings Metro, and the National Association of Counties for the Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker. This resource is another means for local leaders to find thousands of project ideas across tiers.
1: Develop, Implement or Enhance a Comprehensive Safety/Violence Prevention Plan
Over the last year, cities have seen decreases in some crimes through investment in comprehensive and collaborative approaches. Through city structures like offices of neighborhood safety or violence prevention, these approaches allow for interventions like: Hospital-Based Violence Intervention, Group Violence Reduction Strategies, Community/Crisis Response models and more.
The City of Baltimore utilized ARPA funding to grow the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety & Engagement (MONSE) and pilot innovative community safety initiatives.
“This is a historic investment for Baltimore as these dollars will support approaches that confront and prevent the violence occurring on the streets today,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “With the launch of our Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) and the future expansion of our evidence-based community violence intervention (CVI) programming, we remain intentional and steadfast in our commitment to make Baltimore a safer city for all. It is critically important that we build public safety with, not for, our residents.” Baltimore GVRS decreased shootings without increasing arrests in the city’s western district between 2022 and 2023.
2: Engage Community in Conversations and Decision-Making Dialogues
As localities work to improve local safety, it is important to authentically engage with residents about those plans which requires funding for things like food, childcare, transportation and where possible, stipends for participation. Additionally, developing and implementing a community engagement and communications strategy around safety and justice- is critical for city leaders, – particularly when focused on engaging with youth, young adults and those most impacted by violence/crime.
3: Provide Resources for Safe Storage
Either through education campaigns or the provision of safe storage locks, cities can create opportunities for residents to safely store firearms and prevent injury. Recently, the White House announced new executive actions to support similar initiatives.
SLFRF spending examples include:
New Orleans, LA – $20,250 for a gun safety campaign aimed at promoting safe storage practices for gun owners.
Upper Darby, PA – $50,000 to purchase and provide resident gun owners with gun locks for safer use.
4: Invest in Safety/Justice Workforce
Through mental health support, training opportunities, supplies and equipment, incentives and more, municipalities can invest in the traditional and reimagined safety/justice workforce via ARPA investments. For instance, local governments can upgrade or enhance fire and/or emergency response equipment (such as vehicles, communication systems, etc.). Alternatively, using ARPA funds to implement policies/practices that recruit and retain emergency responders and law enforcement could strengthen a municipality’s public safety response. Finally, supporting worker healing and wellbeing will strengthen the capacity of the public safety workforce, especially for violence intervention workers facing trauma or burnout.
SLFRF spending examples include:
City of Fresno, CA – $4,608,200 for Police Department personnel retention through labor contract negotiations and additional resources for sworn personnel costs.
5: Create Opportunities for Youth, Young Adults, Victims & Returning Citizens
By investing in those most impacted by crime and violence, cities can create stronger support and opportunities that lead to safer communities. Examples include assessment centers, sobering centers, transitional housing for impacted populations, workforce development programs, victim’s compensation and more.
City of New York, New York SYEP – $7,998,296 to create a Summer Youth Employment Program for over 4,000 City University of New York (CUNY) students, targeting those living in NYCHA public housing and who were most impacted by COVID-19.
City of Detroit, MI – $14,250,000 to establish an SYEP providing youth with career-oriented information, training, and experience to improve the employment pipeline and connect young people to permanent, high-paying positions.
SLFRF spending examples of Victim’s Compensation investments include:
Chicago, IL – $10,000,000 to provide services and support to victims of violent crime and their families.
6: Enhance or Support Local Safety/Justice Data/ and Technology
Technological investments can promote local safety. Municipalities can start collecting data and coordinating systems to inform their comprehensive safety plans and create public safety dashboards, like Baltimore’s Public Safety Accountability Dashboard. By tracking key public safety metrics and mapping community violence interventions, municipalities can effectively communicate crime and safety data while setting the stage for greater and sustainable funding for violence prevention efforts.
Investing in Safer Communities Beyond ARPA
ARPA and the SLFRF program provided municipalities the opportunity to invest in and support local safety and justice efforts. While these investments are critical, it is important that local leaders keep sustainability and longevity at the forefront. To sustain and grow the efforts that show promise via SLFRF investments, localities should consider where there are opportunities within their budget, through philanthropic investments and via federal grants.
Potential opportunities for additional federal support include:
Glossary
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus and pandemic recovery legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021. This blog and its series focus on the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program; therefore, authors may use “ARPA” and “SLFRF” interchangeably.
Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) is the $350 billion program authorized by ARPA that provides economic stimulus and pandemic recovery funding to U.S. states, territories, cities, counties, and tribal governments.
Allocations are the total funds distributed to state and local governments through SLFRF.
Adopted Budget are dollars distributed to local governments through SLFRF that have been budgeted or committed to specific initiatives or programs.
Spent means the grantee has issued checks, disbursed cash, or made electronic transfers to liquidate (or settle) an obligation.
Obligations are dollars distributed to state and local governments through SLFRF that have been legally dedicated to specific uses, frequently (but not exclusively) through contractual agreements. The Treasury’s recent guidance defines obligations as “orders placed for property and services and entry into contracts, subawards, and similar transactions that require payment.” The Final Rule requires recipient local governments to obligate 100 percent of their SLFRF allocations by December 2024.
Tier 1 local governments are metropolitan cities and counties with populations greater than 250,000. These jurisdictions include states, U.S. territories, and counties but NLC’s focus for this series is on cities. These governments are required to report quarterly, and the last reporting date captured in our data is from September 30, 2023.
Tier 2 local governments are metropolitan cities with a population below 250,000 residents that are allocated more than $10 million in SLFRF funding, and NEUs that are allocated more than $10 million in SLFRF funding. These jurisdictions include counties but NLC’s focus for this series is on cities. These governments are required to report quarterly, and the last reporting date captured in our data is from September 30, 2023.
Tier 5 local governments are metropolitan cities with a population below 250,000 residents that are allocated less than $10 million in SLFRF funding, and NEUs that are allocated less than $10 million in SLFRF funding. These jurisdictions include counties but NLC’s focus for this series is on cities. These governments are required to report yearly, and the last reporting date captured in our data is from April 31, 2023. Non-entitlement units (NEUs) are local governments that typically serve 50,000 residents or less. Of the $65.1 billion allocated to municipal governments across the country, SLFRF allocated $19.5 billion, or 30 percent, to NEUs. Comparatively, SLFRF allocated $45.6 billion, or 70 percent, to metropolitan cities. Depending on if an NEU is a Tier 2 or Tier 5 recipient, they may have different reporting requirements.
The authors would also like to acknowledge Maryam Ahmed and Tony McCright for their support in writing this blog. Thank you to Christy Baker-Smith, Julia Bauer, Irma Esparza Diggs, Josh Franzel, Patrick Rochford, Archana Sridhar, and Melissa Williams for their review of this blog.
About the Authors
About the Authors
Yucel (u-jel) Ors is the Director of Public Safety and Crime Prevention at the National League of Cities.
Kirby Gaherty is the Program Director for Justice Initiatives at the National League of Cities.
Ian Grice is the Justice Initiatives Data Program Specialist at the National League of Cities.
Sarah Minster is a Research Specialist with the Research & Data Analysis Center.
Peter Clemons discusses 5G’s possible impact and the factors that must be considered by the critical comms industry and society as a whole if we are to realise its full potential
In just over a century we have discovered how to harness the power and value of the electromagnetic spectrum – just as we did in bygone eras with fire, agriculture, domesticated animals, steam and fossil fuels. And yet, in spite of our growing list of achievements, each generation forgets at its peril the fragile nature of our continued existence on Earth.
There are clear signs that the established order is breaking down; terrorism, national financial crashes and increasingly polarised politics to name a few. We struggle to find the right answers to crises because we are asking the wrong questions and still using an analytical framework that no longer serves us in these times of change.
We need a new way of thinking and a new way of seeing the world. People looking for simple yes-no values for their big data experiments and concrete answers to justify clean-cut hypotheses will be disappointed. We need new conceptual tools to manage the data that we are being bombarded with.
We are moving through an uncertain present towards a future that is still far from clear. In the area of mobile communications this period coincides with the move from a relatively stable 2G (GSM/TETRA) world of the early 2000s to an end-game 5G world by the end of the 2020s, passing through a very messy 3G/4G (UMTS/LTE) world where different technologies collide, producing friction.
We stand on the edge of a new era – the 5G era of smart cities, smart grids, Internet of Things, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and Blockchain – where ubiquitous networked sensors, actuators, algorithms, robots and other devices embedded with powerful capabilities will demand new ways of creating, distributing and storing value. We will have new methods of organising ourselves, and new legal and social norms for dealing with a contemporary generation of conflicts and co-ordination problems.
Can we cope when we are forced to compete against alternative forms of intelligence, created by us, but in many ways much more powerful than ourselves? Who will get to play God in the 5G era?
What will 5G bring?
Although we have no clear idea yet what the 5G era will look like (and there are bound to be infinite surprises along the way) a growing number of players are beginning to articulate likely scenarios. The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance published a whitepaper last year detailing a number of use cases that highlight the major challenges facing governments, developers, operators, investors and potential users. These groups are all required to deliver and embrace a holistic 5G vision within a reasonable timeframe, based on the hard realities facing all stakeholders in 2016:
Broadband access with peak data rates of 10 Gbps and an average of one Gbps in dense urban environments to allow “pervasive video”.
Broadband access everywhere with speeds of 50 Mbps and up.
Higher user mobility, especially on transport such as trains and aeroplanes.
The massive Internet of Things – sensor networks with millions of nodes within a single square kilometre; massive capillary networks with no single point of failure and no single point of security weakness.
Extreme real-time communications. Tactile internet with haptic feedback for remote control.
Lifeline communications for public safety, emergency services and natural disaster relief operations.
Ultra-reliable communications for emergency calls, e-health, mission-critical operations, automated industrial procedures, and connected cars.
Broadcast-like services – immersive experiences that enable “being there” without being there, virtual and augmented reality without the motion sickness.
There is no way that we will be able to deliver this vision by building 5G networks based on a single air interface, a single architecture and particularly not on an ageing internet based on TCP/IP and other current protocols. This society will require critical communications all the way to its edge. We will need new mechanisms to deliver universal coverage, or else this ambitious vision will fail.
A global 5G research programme is a noble endeavour and we cannot turn away from following this path, but we need to start taking a longer-term view of what can be achieved and how long it will take to arrive, rather than setting unrealistic deadlines that will lead to poorly-designed systems.
New answers to new questions
The recent ETSI Summit ‘5G: From Myth to Reality’ on April 21 raised a lot more questions than answers about the why of 5G. During the opening policy session, European Commission representatives talked about a new wave of innovations lifting Europe out of recession and creating a new dynamic economy. However, the speakers in the rest of the sessions were fairly evenly split. On the one hand are non-technical people focusing on the all-singing-all-dancing new applications that will transform society. On the other are the more technically-minded presenters who clearly understand the enormous challenges and the huge amount of work that will need to be done to convert the current plethora of ‘nice toy’ solutions into fully secured, affordable, useful services.
Where do we start when building a full list of the serious challenges facing our community?:
The need for adequate, available, harmonised spectrum on a global scale;
The need for global standards for the next-generation, secure and private-by-design internet that must replace the current one being constantly patched up from crisis to crisis. This will allow the fully secured smart cities and smart grids that will drive future societies;
The new governance models, business models, legal requirements and consensus protocols that will underpin this new society;
The re-structuring of education and healthcare systems to prepare the current and future global workforce for a world populated by autonomous vehicles, machines and robots;
The 100 per cent geographical coverage required to deliver the full 5G era vision;
Sub-millisecond latency for more advanced applications such as tactile internet.
Have governments started a serious debate with their citizens about how we are going to organise ourselves in a better way as a global society to make sure we iron out inconsistencies and minimise the chances of something really bad happening on a global scale once everything is connected? Of course not.
We can’t stop the 5G era from happening and even if we could, we should not. However, we do need to educate the public about the challenges and opportunities of moving to this new world. We must also study all the possible consequences of embracing these new technologies.
In a complex, contradictory world we cannot leave the messy decisions to robots, algorithms, governments or technology companies. We all need to have a say, using new tools to enhance our intelligence, but definitely not to replace it. The 5G era is approaching and an open, honest, public debate needs to start now. We cannot allow the usual suspects at the top of our current social hierarchy to play God in such an interconnected world. We need to find the right way of engaging society in this conversation.
All communications become critical
The critical communications sector has traditionally been focused on building private, highly secure, robust and resilient networks for government, public safety, transport, utilities, oil, gas & mining and other industrial facilities, that required ICT networks separated from the public. During the 1990s and 2000s global standards such as TETRA, P25 and DMR were developed to cater for the needs of these highly-demanding users, who pay a certain premium for greater control and special services beyond that offered by commercial operators.
However, each generation of mobile communications technology requires greater investment, as well as a global standards approach to achieve the faster speeds and the evolved form factors desired by a global user community.
Following the financial crisis governments have been looking for ways to reduce spending on public services, including critical communications networks for emergency services. This has led to the development of public safety LTE by 3GPP, the global standards body that has adapted, enhanced and hardened commercial solutions within its latest releases to incorporate some of the functionality required by emergency services and other professional users.
Governments and emergency services around the world have now started the long process of switching to new critical communications solutions. In the United States the government has assigned 2×10 MHz of spectrum and $7 billion for the development of a new nationwide broadband network – FirstNet – dedicated to public safety. In the United Kingdom the government has decided to replace the existing dedicated national TETRA network with a commercially-sourced, LTE-based solution with no dedicated spectrum.
Europe is taking a sensible, long-term approach by renewing TETRA networks and testing hardened LTE solutions until global standards and harmonised spectrum allow the next generation of solutions to emerge. The rest of the world is looking at options ranging from dedicated and/or commercial spectrum, publicly- and/or privately-funded, publicly- or privately-operated models and everything in-between. Over the next decade or so each country will try different models to see which ones work and which ones don’t.
As if the current situation were not complex enough, society faces ever greater disruption at ever higher speeds as the 5G juggernaut appears on the horizon. But just what is 5G? And do we really need it? Can we define it and explain it more clearly to a sceptical public and move beyond bits and bytes, speeds and gimmicks, to focus on real products and services that people can understand and accept?
How do we make sure we get it right?
How many steps are there from 2G to 5G? As many as necessary with an honest, comprehensive evaluation of progress at regular staging posts along the road to make sure that 5G is as inclusive and useful as possible to the maximum number of people.
Quixoticity has recently joined ETSI and 3GPP to play a greater role in the critical work that is underway globally to define this exciting 5G era. We must move forward carefully and conscientiously, but also firmly and resolutely, identifying the real problems facing society and starting to address them before the cracks that have appeared in our current system become too large to be filled in. This will require unprecedented global effort because of its size and scope, based on new design principles, new governance principles and new ways of collaborating and working together. We must have flexible, agile ecosystems based on robust, resilient infrastructure with security and privacy baked into the fundamental fabric of the system from the very beginning. We do not have a lot of time, but we have enough to make sure that solid foundations are in place for a new society and economy that can be more resilient than the imperfect systems we currently have.
This new world will require a Global Critical Alliance that will slowly emerge from our current structures and organisations. Quixoticity is also developing a Global Critical Index that will map out the steps required by critical infrastructure and emergency communications providers to get us from where we are now to where we need to be. Such an Index – built on new principles and radically new criteria and variables than the reports and indexes of recent times – will focus on the search for best practice in a common-sense framework. We will have to take into account sensible timeframes and adequate business and operational models that keep us safe by combining the best of old and new, public and private, commercial and critical and that provide a basic, universal service to all global citizens wherever they are and however rich or poor they might be. The Global Critical Index will be explained in greater detail in future articles.
We must use all available talent, skills and experience to ensure we make the right choices. We cannot leave them to a traditionally narrow dominant class within a traditionally hierarchical global society. In the 5G era there must be no sun gods who decide the winners and losers. It requires greater accountability and transparency. The 5G era also needs a new way of distributing wealth so that everyone can participate in the global society. It requires humans to rediscover meaning and significance within their lives and for everyone to receive the tools they need to reach their full potential for the collective good.
This world will not arrive in 2020. Not even in 2030. The future stretches out ahead of us and there are many forks in the road. Which path will we follow? Will we rush into the 5G era without thinking carefully about the global society and economy we wish to create, and pay a heavy price? Or will we all become more engaged in a long, stimulating, evolving process of discovery where we lay the foundations of a safe, secure and richer society where the possibilities are limitless and we are all allowed to succeed and fail without fear?
Towering rock formations, glittering stars, a glimpse of the Milky Way — and flashing red lights from a telecommunications tower?
That could be what you see in the sky during your next visit to southeastern Utah.
On Feb. 8, the San Juan County Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for a telecom tower within Bears Ears National Monument. The proposed tower would surpass the tallest building in Utah — the Astra Tower in Salt Lake City, which will be 449 feet tall when it’s completed — at 460 feet tall.
Vertical Bridge Development LLC, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based company and the largest private owner of communications infrastructure nationwide, proposed the project.
“Our main objective is to make money for the trust, and this land benefits public schools,” Marla Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Utah Trust Lands Administration, said. “Any money we can make for public schools, we consider advantageous.”
A San Juan County Planning Commission staff report summarizing the proposal says that the tower is “intended to fill communication gaps in the area as well as support infrastructure already in place to the southern part of the county.”
The telecom tower would enable emergency services to quickly respond to 911 calls, enhance broadband needed for online school and work, improve residents’ ability to access telehealth services online and bolster economic activity in the area, according to the San Juan County Planning Commission.
“It’s going to benefit everyone,” Commission Chair Jamie Harvey, also an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, told The Tribune. “Ultimately, it comes down to safety for our visitors coming to the area and helping out first responders.”
“From a cultural perspective,” Harvey continued, “we gather wood up that way. I wouldn’t want to be stuck in a pickle in an area where I’m collecting wood and get stranded. Our elders are doing that, too. They don’t care how old they are; they just want to get wood so they can make it through the winter.”
San Juan County Commission Vice Chair Silvia Stubbs and Commissioner Bruce Adams did not respond to a request for comment.
Between the voices that recommend the telecom tower to improve public safety and internet access in remote San Juan County, some community members are not so sure.
“I go out there quite a bit because it’s an area I like to go to when I need to get away and take a pause,” Davina Smith, a Diné resident of San Juan County running to represent District 69 in the Utah House of Representatives said.
“I have no doubt that there are better solutions that do not include having a gigantic tower in the middle of nowhere,” she continued. “Let’s work with [the U.S. Forest Service] and the Bureau of Land Management. It should be about collaboration with these agencies rather than having this 460-foot tower.”
The planning commission’s staff report includes that “the tower applicant is unaware of any impacts on endangered species, national historic sites, migratory birds, or Native American/Tribal lands,” though Smith raised concerns about those impacts.
If built, the tower’s blinking lights — one at the top, and one halfway up — could be seen from Natural Bridges National Monument, which is located within Bears Ears’ boundaries. The International Dark-Sky Association, which works to protect dark-sky areas from artificial lighting, certified Natural Bridges as the first International Dark Sky Park in 2007.
The National Park Service (NPS) did not respond to a request for comment about the proposed tower’s impact to Natural Bridges’ starry skies, but an NPS website on stargazing reads: “Due to its remote location, Natural Bridges preserves a primordial dark sky largely unaltered by modernity. The National Park Service wants to keep it that way.”
The San Juan County Commission would have to modify the county code to allow for the construction of the tower. The maximum height for buildings where this parcel is located is just 35 feet.
“If approved, this proposal would be disastrous for Natural Bridges and Bears Ears National Monuments and a real blight on the landscape,” said Neal Clark, wildlands director for the nonprofit Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. ”It’s the latest example of why Utah trust lands need to be urgently traded out of sensitive public lands and underscores the Trust Lands Administration’s shortsighted view of what it means to benefit Utah’s schoolchildren. We hope that the San Juan County Commission has enough respect for both the natural beauty and dark night skies of the Bears Ears landscape to deny the requested variance.”
The San Juan County Commission has not yet made a decision on whether to approve the proposed telecom tower. Harvey said that the public will be able to make comments on the project when it is discussed.
The Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training (DOCJT) has announced 25 dispatchers from across the state graduated from the Public Safety Dispatch Academy and are now ready to begin answering the call to aid both citizens and law enforcement officers of the Commonwealth.
“Thank you for answering the call of service,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “Your mission is an important one, as you are now the lifeline to those facing some of their darkest and scariest times. Thank you for being a hero and the ears to Kentucky’s first responders.”
Dispatch basic training is mandatory for any sworn or civilian employee who will dispatch law enforcement officers by radio at a Criminal Justice Information Systems agency. Graduates of the academy have successfully completed a highly structured and comprehensive curriculum to satisfy mandated training requirements. The graduates of Class 155 received 164 hours of academy instruction to satisfy these requirements over four weeks. Major training areas included identifying the role and responsibilities of the dispatcher, correct phone and radio procedures, handling emergency and non-emergency calls for service, emergency medical dispatch protocols and use of the state and national criminal databases.
“I am proud of your accomplishments while at the academy,” DOCJT Commissioner Nicolai Jilek said. “Your four weeks of training have laid a solid foundation for a rewarding career for years to come. I wish you the best of luck in your careers.”
DOCJT is a state agency located on the Eastern Kentucky University campus. The agency is the first in the nation to be accredited under the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies’ public safety training program designation.
Class 155 graduates and their agencies are:
• Elizabeth M. Baudino, Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office • Jeffrey Boone, Bluegrass 911 Central Communications • Taylor J. Bosley, Owensboro Police Department • Kimberly Bravo, Oak Grove Police Department • Erin F. Embry, Logan County ECC • Hannah M. Frymire, Hardin County 911 • Lisa L. Gates, Lexington E-911 • Kylee M. Godbey, Bluegrass 911 Central Communications • Cassidy Jackson, Hopkinsville Police Department • Christopher N. Johnson, Clinton County Emergency Services • Shelby Ranae Johnson, Boyd County PSCC 911 • Tracy Lee Lightfield, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport AOC • Bailey B. Lucas, Georgetown Police Department • Savanna D. Miller, University of Louisville Police Department • Darian J. Mitchell, Greensburg Police Department • Austin Kunath Music, Pikeville Police Department • Lisa J. Norton, Bracken County 911 • Shawn Marie Regis, Georgetown Police Department • Austin T. Rowland, Boone County PSCC • Amber TeShae Russell, Monticello/Wayne County 911 • Jeri A. Spencer, Barren-Metcalfe County ECC • James Michael Spradlin, Prestonsburg Police Department • Alexis Gail Thomas, Pikeville Police Department • Cody J. Wells, Lexington E-911 • Hannah Faith Wise, Georgetown Police Department
DOCJT provides basic training for city and county police officers, sheriffs’ deputies, university police, airport police throughout the state, only excluding Louisville Metro Police Department, Lexington Police Department, Bowling Green Police Department, and the Kentucky State Police, which each have independent academies.
Learn about current efforts to continue to protect the 4.9 GHz Band for public safety as well as recent filings, key decisions impacting these efforts, and how you can support PSSA’s initiative to protect the 4.9 GHz band for public safety.
