From left: Jack Parow, president and chairman of the board of the IAFC; Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, 1st Vice President, National Sheriffs’ Association; and Bill Carrow, president of APCO International

“Mr. Chairman, the needs of first responders are not being met,” said APCO International President Bill Carrow before the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee. “After 32 years, and being a very positive person, that is a very hard comment for me to make in public. But the truth is, it’s better than it was before 9/11, but it’s still not nearly good enough for what our first responders not only need, but also deserve from us.”

On Wednesday, Bill Carrow and other representatives from the Public Safety Alliance (PSA) — Jack Parow, president and chairman of the board of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, 1st Vice President, National Sheriffs’ Association — testified before the House Committee. The hearing was designed to evaluate the progress made by public safety communications since the 9/11 attacks and identify where progress still needs to be made.

In his opening statement, Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) entered into the record a study by the Phoenix Center that found reallocating the D Block to public safety can provide at least $3.4 billion more than the auction of the spectrum for commercial use.

King said, “As we approach the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, public safety must be allocated sufficient spectrum so that a national interoperable public safety wireless broadband network can finally be built.”

King has reintroduced the Broadband for Public Safety Act of 2011 (HR 607), with support of House Ranking Member Bernie Thompson and seven other committee members. “I would say the fact that former chairman and current Ranking Member Thompson and I have such strong support on the committee and that we are standing together, I think demonstrates the kind of bipartisan support we need,” he said

“For those who say we can’t afford to pay it now,” continued King, “I say we can’t afford not to … Reallocating the D Block is absolutely essential.”

Carrow echoed that belief in his testimony, saying, “Not only does this legislation fulfill a remaining unmet recommendation of the 9/11 Commission Report, to provide public safety with the ability to establish seamless interoperability throughout the United States. It has the great promise of ultimately providing first responders with what is needed in the field every day and during critical incidents.”

More Support
Also on Wednesday at Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing, the chairs of the 9/11 Commission, Former Gov. Tom Kean and Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, came out in favor of reallocating the D Block to public safety.

Sean Kirkendall, a spokesman for the PSA, says, “Under their leadership, the 9/11 Commission played a critical role in highlighting the importance of robust, secure, and interoperable communications systems among our first responders. On behalf of the numerous associations represented within the Public Safety Alliance, we warmly welcome this endorsement and thank them for their continued leadership on this important issue. Just as Governor Kean and Representative Hamilton stated in their testimony today, the PSA also believes that we all must support the immediate allocation of the D-block spectrum to public safety. We must not approach these urgent matters at a leisurely pace. We don’t know when the next attack or disaster will strike. Further delay is intolerable. We urge the Congress to act.”

Call to Action
Help your public safety leaders advocate for the reallocation of the D Block. The PSA can keep you informed and has resources to help you get involved:

1. Visit www.psafirst.org, and sign up for updates and alerts;

2. Visit the Broadband Summit website (http://broadbandsummit.apcointl.org), and review the information; and

3. Finally use these two resources to develop and send out your own personal e-mail to your contacts that may be interested and/or should be involved in the PSA work on securing sufficient spectrum and funding to realize the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network.

4. Take part in APCO International’s Inaugural Public Safety Broadband Summit in the Nation’s Capitol on Monday-Tuesday, May 16-17, 2011.

Related Link

• Click here to view the opening statement by Rep. King and read the testimony from the hearing, “Public Safety Communications: Are the Needs of Our First Responders Being Met?”