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Full-Text Articles in Law
Fundamental Reform In Public Safety Communications Policy, Jon M. Peha
Fundamental Reform In Public Safety Communications Policy, Jon M. Peha
Federal Communications Law Journal
Symposium: The Crisis in Public Safety Communications. Held at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, December 8, 2006.
The communications systems used by first responders in the U.S. are inadequate, primarily because of outdated and ineffective public policy. Fundamental reform is needed, and the upcoming digital TV transition provides an outstanding opportunity. This Article describes options available to policymakers, if they act soon.
Sending Out An S.O.S.: Public Safety Communications Interoperability As A Collective Action Problem, Jerry Brito
Sending Out An S.O.S.: Public Safety Communications Interoperability As A Collective Action Problem, Jerry Brito
Federal Communications Law Journal
Symposium: The Crisis in Public Safety Communications. Held at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, December 8, 2006.
Lack of public safety communications interoperability is the result of what economist Mancur Olson called a collective action problem. In this case, the collective action problem that first responders face is caused by the federal policy of allocating and assigning public safety spectrum in a way that segregates first responders to their own bands and ultimately Balkanizes their radio systems. This Article shows that market forces can be employed to solve collective action problems, and it surveys several successful commercial interoperable …
Solving The Interoperability Problem: Are We On The Same Channel? An Essay On The Problems And Prospects For Public Safety Radio, Gerald R. Faulhaber
Solving The Interoperability Problem: Are We On The Same Channel? An Essay On The Problems And Prospects For Public Safety Radio, Gerald R. Faulhaber
Federal Communications Law Journal
Symposium: The Crisis in Public Safety Communications. Held at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, December 8, 2006.
A number of disasters over the last two decades have demonstrated the dire consequences that occur when first responders are unable to communicate due to interoperability of their communications equipment. Each such disaster is followed by a strong reaction from the Federal government, promising immediate action, often with plans to deploy the latest technology. In fact, nothing has ever actually happened at the Federal level to solve first responders' interoperability problem. As I show using a case study from Delaware, states …
Communicating During Emergencies: Toward Interoperability And Effective Information Management, Philip J. Weiser
Communicating During Emergencies: Toward Interoperability And Effective Information Management, Philip J. Weiser
Federal Communications Law Journal
Symposium: The Crisis in Public Safety Communications. Held at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, December 8, 2006.
To change the culture and realities of public safety communications, this Article calls on policymakers to develop a new architecture for the use of information and communications technologies and provide a framework for leadership to transition to a next generation system for public safety communications. Such a culture change would include not only an embrace of new technologies, but a new framework for technology leadership--at the state or regional level-that spurs decision making in a coordinated fashion (and not through ad …