Congress Urged to Make Public Safety Communications a Priority

The Association for Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) is urging Congress to make first responder communications a priority during the last months of this session. “The Katrina disaster demonstrates once again the critical need for robust, interoperable radio communications for public safety personnel,” the organization wrote in a letter to Members. APCO urged Congress to pass legislation this year that would: (1) Set a hard date to clear TV stations from 700 MHz band radio spectrum already allocated for public safety. (2) Boost federal grants supporting interoperable communications planning, staffing and equipment. (3) “Improve the way funds are allocated to local governments to be used for upgrading or purchasing interoperable communications systems.” (4) “Provide federal grants to PSAPs to upgrade their 911 systems.” (public safety answering point, a physical location where 911 emergency telephone calls are received and then routed to the proper emergency services) (5) “Consider the need for additional spectrum for broadband public safety communications applications.”
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