Public Safety Communication Systems

The primary objective of this program is to lead the development of wireless telecommunications and information technology standards, profiles, and guidelines for interoperability, and information sharing, among criminal justice (CJ) and public safety (PS) agencies at state, local, and federal levels. To achieve this it will be necessary to focus on enabling technologies and open architecture standards so that interoperability approaches can be designed and implemented. Proposed techniques and standardized configurations will be verified and validated through simulations and laboratory testing. While standards are being developed, other interim interoperability solutions will be investigated. As a secondary goal, this project will conduct technical evaluations of current and emerging technologies aimed at providing immediate assistance to CJ and PS agencies.

Too often in critical situations communications the data exchanges between law enforcement and public safety agencies are hampered by equipment incompatibilities. In large part these incompatibilities are due to a lack of standards to provide a common, nationwide approach to telecommunications and information sharing. The Department of Homeland Security's Wireless Public SAFEty Interoperable COMmunications program (SAFECOM), the umbrella initiative to coordinate all Federal, state, local, and Tribal users to achieve national wireless communications interoperability and the Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) have a common goal to resolve these issues by supporting the development and implementation of communications standards that will advance communications interoperability.

The OLES Public Safety Communications Systems program provides technical support to both of these programs. The OLES program, drawing on existing standards as well as critical requirements provided by public safety practitioners, provides insight and direction to IT and wireless standards committees that are developing standards for voice, data, image, and video communications. To meet the short term needs of law enforcement and public safety agencies until such standards are in place, the program also evaluates commercial devices that can provide for interim interoperability.