NS - Grant - Ratification of Application for Interoperable Communications Technology Grant

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4 Interoperability for the Durham, NC MSA Project Description A. Problem Identification and Justification and Use of Federal Funds The Durham, NC MSA consists of Durham, Person, Orange, and Chatham counties. This includes the cities and towns of Roxboro, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, Durham, Pittsboro, and Siler City. The population of the Durham MSA is 451,212 (U.S. Census 2004 estimate). Public Safety communications in the Durham MSA is difficult due to the incompatibility of the radio systems operated by the many agencies. The incompatibility of radio systems within the Durham MSA results in the inability of law enforcement officers to readily share pertinent information when they must interface with officers from a different jurisdiction, such as during pursuits, missing persons, and potential terrorism incidents. Durham County: Durham has excellent interoperability with agencies in the Raleigh MSA due to the compatibility of 800 MHz trunked radio systems. While most agencies in Durham County have migrated to an 800 MHz franked system installed in 1994, the Durham County Sheriff's Department continues to operate on a conventional UHF system. This creates interoperability issues and diminishes First Responder effectiveness within Durham County. Limited funding has prevented moving this large organization to 800 MHz. This grant will provide interoperability that currently does not exist, between the Durham County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies in the Durham MSA, adjacent MSAs and statewide. Orange County: Orange County Emergency Management is the primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and dispatch center for the County serving a growing population of 118,227 (2000 U.S. Census). The County PSAP dispatches for the municipalities of Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, providing citizens contact with the following services: 11 fire departments, four law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, and animal control. The PSAP also dispatches for emergency medical services and fire services to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hospital. The need for interoperable communications is extremely high for this area due to the diverse responsibilities of the PSAP and the nature of the community. Also, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill contains at least one homeland security sensitive target that falls within the Buffer Zone Protection Program. An attack on this target would create a huge need for communications interoperability due to the potentially large human casualty impact if such an attack were ever realized. The current Orange County radio system utilizes discrete VHF and UHF frequencies, which limits interoperabilitybefween public safety agencies. To begin to remedy this interoperability problem, the county has requested and received funding from the 2004 Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program to pay for two 800 MHz tower sites for the county on the State's Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders (VIPER). The VIPER network is a statewide system that local emergency response agencies may participate in which is based on an 800 MHz franked radio system. Orange County's current problem is that, while the PSAP has legal access to the system, the dispatch center cannot presently dispatch on the 800 MHz band due to the existing consoles. This is impeding efforts to bring local law enforcement and emergency services agencies onto the 800 MHz VIPER platform to allow them to communicate with one another. Unless the dispatch center's equipment is upgraded,