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

[Roger Strohmeyer]

Thanks. I'm just trying to pinpoint what exact radio system they were
having issues with...

On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 11:47 AM, tvsjr <tvsjr at tvsjr.com> wrote:

> No, it's a typical government project. They use a bit of everything. Moto
> is the most common but certainly not exclusive.
>
>
>
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Roger Strohmeyer <roger.stroh at gmail.com>
> Date:
> To: tvsjr <tvsjr at tvsjr.com>,Discussion of Federal Government
> Communications <fedcom at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [FedCom] DHS Spent $430 Million on Radios Its Employees Don’t
> Know How to Use
>
>
>
> So the Thales radios have nothing to do with nothing and they use only
> Motorola?
>
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 10:34 AM, tvsjr <tvsjr at tvsjr.com> wrote:
>
>> Treasury common, now DHS common, if I had to guess.
>>
>> What radios? Predominantly Moto - mobiles with W3 and O3 handheld control
>> heads, XTS5000, APX.
>>
>>
>>
>> -------- Original message --------
>> From: bernieS <bernies at netaxs.com>
>> Date:
>> To: Fedcom <fedcom at mailman.qth.net>
>> Subject: [FedCom] DHS Spent $430 Million on Radios Its Employees Don’t
>> Know How to Use
>>
>> 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.
>>
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