By Robert Travis Scott, Capital bureau
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
BATON ROUGE, La.- The Senate Commerce Committee shot down a proposal Wednesday to create regional and statewide coordinated communications systems based on text messaging and Internet technology, to assist first responders and the public during disasters.
The systems are based partly on the only consistently reliable source of communication that was available in the days after Hurricane Katrina, when telephone and two-way radio services were limited or inoperable.
The panel’s main objections to the proposal, contained in House Bills 540 and 619 by Rep. Tim Burns, R-Mandeville, were the potential cost and its mandate for a specific program that might limit the state’s flexibility in setting up future communication links.
“You’re putting handcuffs on these people,” said Sen. Francis Heitmeier, D-Algiers.
Sen. Mike Smith, D-Winnfield, said Burns’ initiative was unnecessary. Officials from across the state have been meeting for years to develop better communications systems, and they should be responsible for figuring out what should be deployed, he said.
Through the State Police, Louisiana has embarked on a significant upgrade of its radio communications system with links to local authorities and emergency responders. Much of that equipment has been supplied or bought by the federal government since Katrina, though many parishes and municipalities have yet to join the program.
Also, State Police and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness have acquired mobile emergency equipment and have taken steps to prevent another breakdown in official communication after a hurricane.
Burns’ proposal was supported by the Police Jury Association of Louisiana and the Louisiana Municipal Association. Several major wireless phone companies opposed it.
Text messaging
HB 540 would use an Internet-based protocol for a wireless network to provide high-speed, wireless voice, video and data communications. HB 619 would establish state and regional Internet-based control centers that would support a text-based emergency alert and notification system.
In the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Katrina in the New Orleans area, text messaging worked better than other forms of communication because the technology does not rely on central components of the voice telephone network that were temporarily shut down after the storm.
Burns was trying to create a coordinated way for first responders to use text messaging. Much of the system is based on software and a plan for how various parties would use the system. Members of the public could sign up for free to receive text-message notifications.
Several counties in the Washington, D.C., area use such a system and coordinate their activities in a regional plan.
Burns said federal Homeland Security money given to the state each year could pay for his systems, which he said would total about $20 million statewide. “They’ve given us the money,” Burns said. “We just haven’t been spending it right, we haven’t been spending it smart.”
But his initiative lit a flashpoint debate in the Legislature. Sen. Walter Boasso, R-Arabi, has been pushing to revamp the state’s decisionmaking structure for communications interoperability, placing less reliance on State Police and spreading the authority over a broader range of state agencies with a stake in emergency communications. His Senate Bill 739 to create that new structure will be heard today in the House Judiciary Committee.
Radio upgrade
Since Katrina, State Police has been pressing ahead to upgrade its radio system from a somewhat outdated 800 megahertz-range analog system to a more versatile digital 700 megahertz-range system with much greater capacity for more users.
Soon after Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency bought $15.9 million in equipment to upgrade the state’s radio system and bought about $5 million worth of radio handsets that it has loaned to St. Bernard and Plaquemeines Parish officials. The state focused first on the New Orleans area for the network upgrade, including 19 new radio towers, and it is now improving the system in southwest Louisiana.
But as the State Police has moved forward with its radio upgrade, some local authorities have objected at being pressed into buying the expensive radio handsets in order to link to the state system. That is one of the complaints of the police jury and municipal associations.
They also complained that they were not well represented on a new executive committee created by the governor this year to ensure the state has a resilient emergency communications infrastructure on local and state levels. In response to those concerns, administration officials changed the committee makeup to accommodate more local responders.