Public Safety Agencies in DC Relied on SpectraRep IncidentOne on Fourth of July
SpectraRep, an advanced solutions provider for emergency communications, announced that its IncidentOne technology was used to support video and file sharing among multiple agencies during the July 4th festivities in northern Virginia and on the National Mall. IncidentOne, a state-of-the-art, wireless emergency communications solution, delivered operational and crisis incident data to mobile emergency management command centers and police cruisers positioned around northern Virginia and Washington, DC. For the first time, digital television was used to overcome bandwidth challenges by using spectrum from WETA-TV to securely deliver data directly to emergency responders without competing with the increased Internet and cell phone activity caused by the public.
Capt. David J. Mulholland, Commander of Technology Services for the U.S. Park Police (USPP), said, “An enhanced ability to protect the public with reliable video connectivity, even during peak activity time on the National Mall, increased our situational awareness and allowed our officials to identify potential threats and disseminate emergency response information quickly and efficiently. The video was made available to more than a dozen agencies representing multiple public safety disciplines and jurisdictions. A picture is worth a thousand words, so when our officers and all the officers from the other agencies had reliable access to relevant video and data throughout the whole day, it increased our ability to respond and protect lives.”
Utilizing only one in-place transmitter and bandwidth from WETA-TV, Washington, D.C.’s flagship public television station, USPP law enforcement officers were able to transmit large amounts of emergency information such as blueprints, evacuation maps, crisis plans, live security camera video feed and more to officers responding to emergency calls. With IncidentOne, the USPP was able to deliver data to remote units and mobile devices in patrol cars of multiple agencies, allowing officers to execute an interoperable, coordinated total response. The WETA signal is approximately 50 miles in radius, providing ample coverage for the entire National Capitol Region (NCR) regardless of where emergencies occur.
Joe Bruns, Chief Operating officer of WETA, “WETA is pleased to be a partner with SpectraRep and the United States Park Police to provide this important service to the public. As a public television station serving our nation’s capital, public service is the most important element of our mission. We are proud that, on our nation’s Independence Day, we were able to utilize our digital broadcasting capability to assist the U.S. Park Police in carrying out its important public safety responsibilities.”
“Our mission is to deliver reliable, interoperable, targetable and secure communications, including data-heavy content such as streaming video, to first responders when and wherever they need it, utilizing existing infrastructure. We accomplished this with flying colors on the Fourth of July and we are proud to support law enforcement, first responders and emergency managers by helping them bridge the communications gap in a cost-effective manner. We look forward to integrating with and optimizing new and existing two-way communication systems and strongly support efforts to give public safety officials the dedicated networks they need to communicate effectively,” said Pat DeConcini, President and Chief Operating Officer of SpectraRep.
“By using WETA’s spectrum to deliver data, SpectraRep’s IncidentOne solution gives emergency management officials the ability to transmit authorized alerting, response and recovery information directly to first responders over a secure, reliable, interoperable wireless network not limited by bandwidth capacity,” said Mark O’Brien, Vice President of SpectraRep. “This project is an example of SpectraRep technology solving a specific problem on a national scale.”
O’Brien stressed that public television spectrum is available everywhere and already covers 97 percent of the U.S. population. Please contact Mr. O’Brien for information on using this resource in your market.