Infrastructure

Senate tries again on implementing statewide emergency radio network

Emergency radio tower – Shutterstock

Emergency radio tower – Shutterstock

State Senator Bob Mensch’s (R-Montgomery) Senate Resolution 237, which would encourage county and local government and emergency services agencies to work with the Pennsylvania State Police and the Office of Public Safety Radio to create interoperability for the latest iteration of the Statewide Radio Network (STARnet), recently was approved by the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee.

It is the latest effort to solve the decades-long process of creating a statewide public safety radio network.

Currently, Pennsylvania has nearly 30 different radio networks in use for first responders and emergency services personnel statewide. On the local level, there is a patchwork of radio networks that have varying levels of interoperability with one another and the statewide network.

The various levels of coverage and the lack of consistent interoperability have led to public safety concerns and the search for a viable statewide solution.

The efforts related to STARnet have been in operation since 1996, when Gov. Tom Ridge signed Act 148, which authorized the creation of a uniform statewide radio network to be used by emergency services personnel.

Since then, nearly $1 billion has been spent on multiple failed attempts to find a viable solution.

The latest iteration of the network, P25, is currently in the pilot phase, with the rollout expected to continue into 2021, when statewide fulfillment could be realized.

However, in order for that to occur, communication with local governments on the future of the radio network is key, said Mensch.

“I think everyone in the legislature is aware that over the previous two decades, we’ve had some difficulty with implementing a radio system that remains in place (and) provides the fiscal stability that the state needs to establish an operational system that can grow forward and is futuristic in its view,” he said. “As we move forward, I think it’s important we, as a state, begin to roll out more information to the counties and to the municipalities about the direction that the state is going. What I think we want to do is, to the extent that we can, avoid duplicate costs that might occur in counties and municipalities as they make patches or amendments to their system not knowing where P25 is headed.”

Last session, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 325, which urged the Wolf administration to solve the statewide radio network issues.

The administration’s response, the current P25 system, is currently being tested in northwestern counties where interoperability with extant local radio systems, international and inter-state frequencies, and compatibility with federal radio networks is being tested.

Maj. Diane Stackhouse, director of the Pennsylvania State Police’s Bureau of Communications and Information Services, recently told the committee that statewide coverage is still anticipated for 2021.

“We are excited about coming to the conclusion of the pilot stage, which means at the end of December we will transition to a statewide rollout,” she said. “As we move forward, we are about building bridges with counties…I’m excited about the ongoing possibilities with counties and being interoperable. These are exciting times – we don’t want to force counties to join, but we offer partnering scenarios that might be attractive to counties.”

Sen. Randy Vulakovich (R-Allegheny), the Majority Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, noted that however the rollout progresses, it must be careful to avoid “the sins of the past” that have left the Commonwealth with nearly a billion dollars in out-of-pocket expenses, but nothing to show for it.

“Having spent 27 years in law enforcement, I know how imperative it is for our first responders to communicate in emergencies,” said. Sen. Vulakovich. “While there have been several misfires on the Statewide Radio System over the past several decades, the State Police are making solid progress with the new P25 Pilot Program and this resolution simply encourages further collaboration at the state and local levels.”

As of October 2016, the Pennsylvania State Police has allocated $44.5 million for implementation of P25, with more costs likely to come as statewide implementation grows near and newer individual radios will need to be replaced.

 

Jason Gottesman is the Harrisburg Bureau Chief of The PLS Reporter, a news website dedicated to covering Pennsylvania’s government.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.