What we have is a failure to communicate

[Commentary] In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, public safety leaders in Southern California concluded that the need for a unified emergency communications system was so grave that they had to build it in such a way as to avoid the traditional pitfalls for huge, multi-agency projects: sloppiness, recriminations and politics. Ten years later, they are on the verge of commissioning such a system, but their efforts are beset by sloppiness, recriminations and politics. The huge undertaking goes by the ungainly acronym LA-RICS, short for the unwieldy full name: The Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System. Once built, it is supposed to supply a wireless voice and data system that will link all of Los Angeles County's first responders — 50 law enforcement agencies and 31 fire departments.