By Carol Eisenberg
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2007 Newsday, Inc.
WASHINGTON — New York localities might have accomplished a lot more with $145.5 million in federal grants to improve communications among first responders if they had gotten better national guidance, according to a new report.
Instead, many communities improved local communications, but ignored broader goals of connecting to state and federal systems, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
“Because of the lack of coordination, state and local governments are investing significant resources, including Department of Homeland Security grant funds, in developing independent interoperability solutions that do not always support each other’s needs,” the congressional watchdog agency reported.
Inability to communicate was a factor in the deaths of more than 100 firefighters at the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as in the slow response to Hurricane Katrina. The GAO warned that in another terrorist attack or natural disaster, it may be vital for first responders to talk to their counterparts in other communities, as well as to state and federal agencies.
The report blamed the Department of Homeland Security for not using national or state strategic plans to guide grants for the three-year period from 2003 through 2005. It also noted that while New York state is building a $2-billion wireless network, which is expected to be up and running in 2010, state officials cannot force local governments to sign on. As of December, it said that only New York City and seven of the state’s 62 counties had agreed to be full partners.
A top homeland security official acknowledged the report’s findings, but said it minimized dramatic progress.
“Is there more to be done?” asked George Foresman, Homeland Security’s undersecretary for preparedness. “Yes, there is. But we have made great advances. The GAO is constrained by having to articulate the perfect. The Department of Homeland Security is constrained by having to implement the practical.”
He said the department has come a long way from funding quick-fix solutions that bridged existing systems to demanding projects that promote regional interoperability. By year’s end, he said, states will have to have submitted strategic plans, which will be the basis of future awards.
New York State Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Michael Balboni complained that local agencies have been exhorted to coordinate their efforts, “but without clear federal guidance.
“Meanwhile, the state has not waited for this federal guidance to emerge, but rather has taken on an ambitious and expensive project to ensure what happened at the towers on 9/11 never happens again,” he said.
But he acknowledged that the state’s outreach to promote the system to local communities so that they sign on has met with skepticism.
“People have asked, ‘do you need a statewide system?’” he said. “‘Do the fire chiefs in Mineola and Batavia ever really need to speak to one another?’”
Balboni said he believes the establishment of a statewide “backbone” to facilitate communication in regional and local emergencies should be the goal. “DHS has not gotten around to really embracing this, which is really unfortunate given the size and diversity of New York State,” he said.