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The Law Enforcement Take: Winter 2021
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The Law Enforcement Take from Harry Markley
Mission-critical with FirstNet
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The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) is public safety’s advocate for communication technologies, and we work closely with first responders to understand their critical communication needs. The public safety community has spoken loud and clear — they need mission critical services, starting with push-to-talk. In 2020, FirstNet Push-to-Talk was released as the first-ever mission-critical push-to-talk service in the U.S. and now law enforcement agencies are putting it to the test.
Public safety’s priorities
The FirstNet Authority ensures that public safety’s voice is represented in the FirstNet experience. As part of our engagement strategy, we conducted a comprehensive survey of 244 first responders from every discipline, at all levels of management, from rural and non-rural areas, in 46 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia. The survey asked which technology has the greatest potential to improve public safety’s effectiveness. The answer was mission-critical services.
Push-to-talk with benefits
FirstNet Push-to-Talk is the first-ever nationwide mission-critical push-to-talk service to launch in the U.S. And it’s the only push-to-talk solution integrated with FirstNet. In fact, it’s built right into the network core. That means FirstNet Push-to-Talk has all the public safety features unique to FirstNet, including:
- Control of network resources. Using FirstNet Central, administrators can manage push-to-talk for their agencies. They can create talk groups and contacts and push them to devices, without having to physically configure individual devices. They can also view maps of push-to-talk user locations, set priority levels, and manage interoperability settings.
- Interoperability. Administrators can request mutual aid from other agencies using FirstNet Push-to-Talk and manage those users like they manage their own. Mutual talk groups allow for immediate inter-agency communication.
- End-to-end encryption. The FirstNet Core is the brain and nervous system of public safety’s network and separates public safety’s traffic from commercial traffic. Because the core is built on separate physical hardware, push-to-talk communications are highly secure.
- Devices certified for public safety. FirstNet Push-to-Talk is supported on multiple FirstNet-enabled Android devices that are tested and certified through a rigorous FirstNet device approval process. FirstNet Push-to-Talk for iOS smartphones is currently being developed.
In addition to these benefits, FirstNet Push-to-Talk users can communicate seamlessly with land-mobile radio users. Integrating push-to-talk with land-mobile radio can increase the number of people on the network and extend the reach of their communications network.
The path to mission-critical
To be mission-critical, a service must meet standards developed by 3GPP, the international organization that develops protocols for mobile telecommunications. The FirstNet Authority has worked diligently to represent public safety’s interests within the global standards development process for push-to-talk.
Public safety is validating the mission-critical capabilities of FirstNet Push-to-Talk in real-world scenarios. FirstNet Push-to-Talk is an evolutionary product that will continue to grow to meet public safety’s needs.
FirstNet Push-to-Talk in action
The Cranford Police Department in New Jersey participated in a test of FirstNet Push-to-Talk. They used FirstNet Push-to-Talk to supplement their traditional land mobile radio system, which allowed officers to use their smartphones like two-way radios.
Cranford officers stayed connected during every incident with FirstNet Push-to-Talk, even when traditional communications systems failed or were limited. By using FirstNet Push-to-Talk on their smartphones, officers were able to connect via Wi-Fi inside buildings where radio systems often don’t work.
Cranford Police Captain Guy Patterson said, “With FirstNet Push-to-Talk, you have encryption. You have support. You have the backend. You have everything you need to make sure that, when you need it, it’s going to work.”
Your feedback
What is your experience and what are your questions about push-to-talk? Send me an email to let me know.
Also, I hope you’ll check out the Major County Sheriffs of America 2021 Winter Conference on March 4 that my FirstNet Authority colleagues and I are participating in.
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The FirstNet Authority continues to advance unique capabilities for public safety as outlined in the FirstNet Authority Roadmap, including four new mission-ready solutions:
FirstNet MegaRange™ boosts signal strength in hard-to-reach places using high-power user equipment (HPUE) only authorized on FirstNet.
Z-Axis for FirstNet offers vertical location mapping especially helpful with locating personnel in tall buildings that is not offered by traditional GPS.
Compact Rapid Deployables are available for public safety agencies to purchase, providing connectivity similar to cell sites in a matter of minutes.
FirstNet Push-to-Talk now can communicate seamlessly with land-mobile radio users, enabling better collaboration.
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The FirstNet network continues to expand across America. In the last three months, new cell sites have gone up in: Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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Tech, Innovations, and Hot Topics in Law Enforcement
Read what we’ve been hearing from public safety in the field about trends and drivers for law enforcement and emergency communications.*
Artificial intelligence is one of the top technologies shaping law enforcement today. Algorithms and other artificial intelligence tools can help connect disparate data systems and help police departments make better decisions about identifying, detaining, and arresting suspects. Predictive analytics can even help stop a crime before it is committed. The use of artificial intelligence gives law enforcement the ability to explore trends never identified before and make smarter decisions faster.
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The Green Bay Police Department is the main law enforcement agency for the Green Bay Packers football games. Even during big plays when network congestion is the highest, FirstNet gives them faster speeds, better data exchanges, and clearer calls. FirstNet has also made a difference for Green Bay police outside the stadium, like when they tracked a fleeing shooting suspect.
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Harry Markley is a Senior Public Safety Advisor and the First Responder Network Authority Law Enforcement Subject Matter Expert. Learn more about Harry or email him with your questions. |
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*FirstNet Authority may provide hyperlinks for third-party, non-governmental websites in order to offer additional context and added value for our users. FirstNet Authority does not endorse any product or service and is not responsible, nor can it guarantee the validity or timeliness of the content on hyperlinks outside of the federal government. In addition, users may wish to review privacy notices on non-government sites since their information collection practices may differ from ours.
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