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

[Roger Strohmeyer]

Not sure about the "common secure channel' but doing some searching it
appears that Thales Liberty Radio http://thalesliberty.com/ supplies radios
to DHS. (they did an extensive pilot program)

One more:
Thales Selected on DHS Communications Program June 19, 2012:
http://www.thalescomminc.com/news/news.asp?id=357
-Roger


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 9:55 AM, bernieS <bernies at netaxs.com> wrote:

> 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/<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.
>
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