[FedCom] DHS Spent $430 Million on Radios Its Employees Don’t Know How to Use

[bernieS]

What is this "common secure channel" referenced 
in this article?  What radio models does DHS use?

-bernieS


http://www.ticklethewire.com/2012/11/23/homeland-security-has-spent-430-million-on-radios-its-employees-don%E2%80%99t-know-how-to-use/

Homeland Security Has Spent $430 Million on 
Radios Its Employees Don’t Know How to Use
By Theodoric Meyer ProPublica

Getting the agencies responsible for national 
security to communicate better was one of the 
main reasons the Department of Homeland Security 
was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But according to a recent report from the 
department’s inspector general, one aspect of 
this mission remains far from accomplished.

DHS has spent $430 million over the past nine 
years to provide radios tuned to a common, secure 
channel to 123,000 employees across the country. 
Problem is, no one seems to know how to use them.

Only one of 479 DHS employees surveyed by the 
inspector general’s office was actually able to 
use the common channel, according to the report. 
Most of those surveyed ­ 72 percent ­ didn’t even 
know the common channel existed. Another 25 
percent knew the channel existed but weren’t able 
to find it; 3 percent were able to find an older 
common channel, but not the current one.

The investigators also found that more than half 
of the radios did not have the settings for the 
common channel programmed into them. Only 20 
percent of radios tested had all the correct settings.

The radios are supposed to help employees of 
Customs and Border Patrol, the Transportation 
Security Administration, the Coast Guard, 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, the Secret Service, 
and other agencies with DHS communicate during 
crises, as well as normal operations.

DHS officials did not immediately respond to 
questions from ProPublica about what effect the 
radio problems could have on how the agency handles an emergency.

The $430 million paid for radio infrastructure 
and maintenance as well as the actual radios.

In a response letter to the report, Jim H. 
Crumpacker, the Department of Homeland Security’s 
liaison between the Government Accountability 
Office and the inspector general, wrote that DHS 
had made “significant strides” in improving 
emergency communications since 2003. But he 
acknowledged that DHS “has had some challenges in 
achieving Department-wide interoperable communications goals.”

The recent inspector general’s report is the 
latest in a string of critical assessments DHS 
has received on its efforts to improve 
communication between federal, state and local 
agencies. The Government Accountability Office 
reported in 2007 that the Department of Homeland 
Security had “generally not achieved” this goal.

DHS has assigned a blizzard of offices and 
committees to oversee its radio effort since 
2003, which the inspector general’s report 
claimed had “hindered DHS’ ability to provide effective oversight.”

Also, none of the entities “had the authority to 
implement and enforce their recommendations,” the 
report concluded. Tanya Callender, a spokeswoman 
for the inspector general, said the current 
office overseeing the effort hadn’t been given 
the authority to force agencies to use the common 
channel or even to provide instructions for programming the radios.

The inspector general recommended DHS standardize 
its policies regarding radios, which DHS agreed 
to do. But it rejected a second recommendation 
that it overhaul the office overseeing the radios to give it more authority.

“DHS believes that it has already established a 
structure with the necessary authority to ensure” 
that its various agencies can communicate, 
Crumpacker wrote in his response letter.

ProPublica is a non-profit investigative journalism website.