[FedCom] USSS radio interop failures at Trump rally in Butler, PA

[Rohn Daughtry]

You are correct. Here in North Carolina, we have the VIPER system.  The
Secret Service has talk groups.  This was a major FUBAR!  Interoperability
is not a problem, with advance planning. The Secret Service appears to have
walked in and tried to take over, without using local resources.

On Sunday, August 4, 2024, Michael Cushman via FedCom <
fedcom at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

> How about the earlier news that the Secret Service would NOT allow local
> law enforcement into their command center? Why was there TWO command
> centers and nor ONE unified command center?
> To people who don't know radio, the acting director of the Secret Service
> may make it sound like the interoperability "is a technical issue that's
> not an easy fix." You mean to tell me the Secret Service doesn't have any
> of those really expensive crossband systems in their command trailer? The
> Secret Service doesn't have any 800MHz radios in their fancy command
> trailer they could have programmed for the day? Or that the PA State Police
> couldn't have loaned the Secret Service a portable to use in the command
> center for the event? Or that the Secret Service could have loaned the PSP
> a portable to use during the event?
> IMHO, this was just one huge screw up.
> MikeMaryville, TN
>
>     On Sunday, August 4, 2024 at 03:04:12 AM EDT, bernieS <
> bernies at panix.com> wrote:
>
>  https://www.wsj.com/us-news/tech-failings-plagued-secret-
> service-at-trump-rally-49d2286e
>
> Tech Glitches Plagued Secret Service at Rally
>
> BY C. RYAN BARBER AND SADIE GURMAN
>
> WASHINGTON—Spotty cellular service,
> malfunctioning technology and unused equipment
> contributed to a major communications breakdown
> during the rally where a gunman tried to kill
> Donald Trump, just when law enforcement needed to
> share information the most, the top Secret Service official said Friday.
>
> Among other problems, there were no Secret
> Service agents inside a command post set up by
> local police ahead of the July 13 rally, meaning
> critical information couldn’t easily get to the
> agency charged with protecting the former president.
>
> “It is plainly obvious to me that we didn’t have
> access to certain information,” said acting
> Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe.
>
> Urged by lawmakers to share more information
> publicly, Rowe offered new glimpses into the
> massive security failure at the rally in western
> Pennsylvania, where a 20-year-old gunman was able
> to access a rooftop with a clear line of sight to
> Trump and open fire with an AR-15 rifle. A
> spectator was killed, two others were injured,
> and Trump suffered a bullet wound to his ear.
>
> Officers had spotted the gunman, Thomas Matthew
> Crooks, and identified him as suspicious about an
> hour before the shooting, but lost sight of
> him.When an officer finally saw him on the roof
> with a gun, he notified other law-enforcement
> agencies over a radio system. But that radio
> message never got to Secret Service agents, and
> within 30 seconds Crooks opened fire.
>
> “That vital piece of information… did not make it over,” Rowe said.
>
> Further complicating matters, some officers were
> communicating with each other in several
> different ways, such as by cellphone and text
> mes--sage,while others were using a radio system.
> That radio system was flooded with calls for
> people needing help, especially given the extreme heat of the day.
>
> “The interoperability challenge, it’s not an easy
> fix,” Rowe said. “It’s not as simple as just
> trying to figure out the local frequency of the
> agency you’re working with and then typing that
> into your radio network. It requires a substantial technical fix.”
>
> Moreover, a technical issue prevented the Secret
> Service from deploying a counterdrone system
> sooner that might have helped locate the gunman,
> who flew his own drone in the vicinity within two hours of the rally.
>
> Officials meant to start using the technology at
> 3 p.m. but couldn’t get it operating until after 5 p.m.
>
> The agency also declined an offer from a local
> police force to launch a drone, Rowe said. The
> agency’s review of the shooting would examine why
> that offer was declined, he added.
>
> “We thought we might have had it covered with the
> human eye, but clearly we are going to change our
> approach now, and we are going to leverage
> []
> []
>
>
> Law-enforcement said it had trouble communicating
> during a July 13 rally where Donald Trump was
> struck in his ear. BRENDAN MCDERMID/ REUTERS
>
> technology and put those unmanned aerial systems up,” Rowe said.
>
> In the weeks since the shooting, the Biden
> administration and Congress have opened several
> inquiries into how Crooks was able to reach a
> rooftop about 400 feet from the rally stage and
> open fire on the former president.
>
> The Secret Service is confronting that scrutiny
> during a campaign season where it is picking up
> additional protectees, including Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, of
> Ohio.
>
> The Secret Service is surging manpower and other
> resources to ensure the security of protectees, Rowe said.
> “We’re going to make sure that we have all of the
> resources out there to address any challenges that we have,” he added.
> ______________________________________________________________
> FedCom mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/fedcom
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:FedCom at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> FedCom mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/fedcom
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:FedCom at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html



-- 
L. Rohn Daughtry, A.A.S.; BSW
KD4HCT
WRBL294
252-286-4600