HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 142-07TO:
City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
OUNCIL
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
CITY MANAGER
FEBRUARY 20, 2007
SILICON VALLEY REGIONAL
STATUS (SVRIP) UPDATE
DEPARTMENT: POLICE
CMR:142:07
INTEROPERABILITY PROJECT
This report is for informational purposes only, to provide background for the Council study session.
BACKGROUND
Public safety operations require effective command, control, coordination, communication, and
sharing of information from criminal justice and public safety agencies, as well as public utilities,
transportation companies and, in some instances, even private industry. Hundreds of incidents that
require coordinated responses occur every day throughout Santa Clara County. High-profile
incidents, such as plane crashes, earthquakes or large,scale structure fires, test the ability of public
safety service organizations to mount well-coordinated responses. In an era where technology can
easily bring news, current events, and entertainment to communities, many first resP0nders cannot
communicate with each other during routine operations let along during emergencies.
In 1998, eighteen Santa Clara County jurisdictions, representing some thirty law enforcement, fire
and emergency medical services agencies partnered together to enhance inter-agency coordination
and communication between their public safety agencies. These agencies are required to
communicate and exchange information (data) in a variety, of methods.
In 2001, this collaboration solidified under a formal governance structure and a Joint Funding
Agreement was executed by governing bodies from the Cities of Palo Alto (June 21, 2001 CMR:
245:01), Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Campbell, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Gilroy, Monte
Sereno, Los Altos, San Jose, Saratoga, the Towns of Los Altos Hills and Los Gatos, San Jose State
University, the California Department of Forestry (South County Fire District) and the Santa Clara
Valley Water District and the Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Project (SVRIP) was
established. An Executive Steering Committee was established to serve as an oversight committee
for the project. The JFA has twice been amended, first in 2003, and again in 2004 (September 20,
2004 CMR:419:04).
In 2006, at the direction of the Santa Clara County/Cities Managers’ Association, the SVRIP
enhanced the Executive Steering Committee by appointing a Chair, Vice-Chair and Project
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Manager, as well as adding a second City Manager and the Sheriff to its Committee. Palo Alto
Police Technical Services Coordinator Sheryl Contois serves as Vice-Chair and is the only member
of the SVRIP Executive Steering Committee that has been with the Project since it first began in
1998.
In addition, the City Managers directed the SVRIP Steering Committee to develop and present
annual Project Workplans highlighting the Project’s accomplishments over the proceeding fiscal
year and identifying goals for the upcoming year. These workplans were adopted by the Steering
Committee and presented to the City Managers’ Association membership.
DISCUSSION
The SVRIP focused on leveraging existing communications systems, rather than concentrating
efforts on acquiring new hardware and software. The approach will engineer technological
solutions using existing infrastructure and ensure these technologies can be deployed as long-term
solutions to interoperability. The SVRIP is strengthening the longevity of its interoperability
solutions by engineering processes that build on existing, off-the-shelf technologies and are based
on industry standards. To accomplish these goals, the SVRIP hired an experienced systems
integrator, Northrop Grumman, to design and engineer these solutions.
Guided by these principles, the roadmap to interoperability for the SVRIP consists of five
independent, but inter-related and complimentary projects:
1.Bay Area Mutual Aid Communications Systems (BayMACS) - a voice channel that enables
multiple disciplines (local, state and federal personnel) from surrounding jurisdictions to
communicate with each other.
2.Emergency Communications (E-Comm) regional microwave network - a 19 site digital
microwave system that will not only serve as an "information highway" for interoperability
solutions in Santa Clara County, but will interconnect with a Bay Area wide microwave
network that will create a robust communication path for the 10 Bay Area Counties.
3. Regional Interoperability Information Broker (RIIB) - an Information Broker that will
interconnect and serve as a translator between 13 disparate Computer Aided Dispatch
(CAD) systems and approximately 27 Records Management Systems (RMS)to expedite the
dispatch of emergency personnel to the scene of an emergency, track and monitor assets and
resources, and share time-sensitive information between the various first responder agencies.
4o Voice over Internet Protocol (IP) based technology - an extension of existing radio
channels, interconnecting voice communications into unlimited talk-groups that allow police
and fire personnel (or non-public safety personnel) to connect and communicate with other
agencies on-demand.
5. Secure Broadband - using licensed spectrum to provide the means and bandwidth to sharing
video, photos or other time-sensitive information that require high-speeds and secure
pathways.
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Two of the five projects are funded and either complete’ or under construction (BayMACS and E-
Comm). Pilot demonstration projects are underway or have been completed on the other projects.
A small secure broadband pilot using educational band spectrum licensed and operated by San Jose
State University helped to demonstrate the value and importance of this type of technology to the
region. A short-term demonstration project using Voice over IP technology was put in place last
year connecting the public safety agencies in the Cities of Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. The bid
specifications are complete for that project and will be released in the coming weeks. Finally, and
of great significance, the data interoperability pilot project interconnecting Fire CAD systems from
San Jose (as the largest agency), Milpitas (having the newest in CAD systems) and Santa Clara
County Communications (using a CAD system designed and built in-house) is currently underway.
This important pilot will be operational in late February, and-will reduce valuable seconds and
minutes on the dispatch of fire responders and dramatically improve the delivery of fire and medical
services to its communities.
Currently, discussions are underway with federal homeland security officials regarding funding for
a pilot project of the Records Management portion of the data interoperability project. If funding is
successfully secured, this pilot could be underway in the coming months.
Independent Technical Assessment/Validation - Each of the five projects have been validated by
the DHS through its Interoperable Communications Technical Assistance Program (ICTAP). This
federal agency has provided an independent technical assessment of the interoperability design
solutions recommended and architected by Northrop Grumman and has endorsed the approach.
ICTAP engineering and operational expertise is provided at no-cost to local Urban .Areas by the
Department of Homeland Security.
Palo Alto staff, as well as staff from the SVRIP Steering Committee and its subcommittees actively
participate in not only San Jose’s UASI process (as part of the 2004 and 2005 grant programs), but
work actively within the Bay Area UASI Interoperability Working Group, in statewide
interoperability outreach through the California Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee
(CALSIEC), as well as the Capital-Bay Area regional working group, bringing together
interoperability projects from the Bay Area, Sacramento and regions up through the 1-80 corridor to
Lake Tahoe. This collaboration and cooperation ensures that interoperabifity strategies implemented
throughout the region and state will compliment each other and are compatible.
RESOURCE IMPACT
In early 2004, the City of San Jose became a Metropolitan Statistical Area through the Urban Area
Security Initiative (UASI) federal program, receiving an allocation of additional Department of
Homeland Security funds, in 2004 and 2005. As part of the 2005 UASI grant program, the San
Jose Urban Area was required to file a Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan (TICP). The
plan outlines the governance, technology and operational procedures for addressing tactical
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interoperable communications in the region. The region was also required to exercise the TICP and
have it evaluated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Palo Alto staff took the lead and
brought together representatives from various agencies to develop the TICP. The Plan was
submitted to DHS in March 2006 and exercised in September 2006. The San Jose UA was rated as
having advanced implementation in the area of Govemance and Standard Operating Procedures,
ranking one of nine Urban Area’s in both of these areas (out of a 77 Urban Areas) in the country.
The San Jose UA TICP has been adopted by the Santa Clara County Police and Fire Chief’s and
will be incorporated into existing emergency plans utilized throughout the region.
In 2006, Congress combined the Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose Urban Areas into one-larger
Bay Area Super Urban Area (Bay Area SUASI). In the first year as a Super UASI, the region
received nearly $16 million in federal funds through the Urban Area program and was recently
identified as a Tier 1 (highest-risk region) enabling it to compete for upwards of $440 million in the
2007 allocation of UASI funding for Tier 1 areas.
Palo Alto Police and Fire Department personnel continue to actively participate in various regional
Working Groups that manage homeland security related activities and programs that directly benefit
from SUASI federal funds - including Interoperable Communications. For 2007 funding, the
SVRIP submitted nearly $6 million in funding requests for consideration to the Bay Area SUASI
Approval Authority in furtherance of its interoperability objectives. The Bay Area SUASI
Approval Authority is the governing body that oversees the Bay Area’s SUASI program and is
supported by a SUASI Management Team staffed by agency personnel with federal dollars.
Other Federal Funding - To date, in addition to UASI funding, the SVRIP has leveraged funds from
the State of California Office of Homeland Security, the Office of Domestic Preparedness, and the
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office),
bringing in more than $14 million to keep the project moving forward. In addition, SVRIP Steering
Committee staff are currently working to garner support that could bring an additional $51 million
in federal dollars into the SVRIP to continue the build-out of its five projects.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS ....
City of Palo Alto participation in the SVRIP is consistent with existing City policy.
ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIRED
Any environmental impact under the California Environmental
determined in subsequent phases of the project.
Quality Act (CEQA) will be
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PREPAP~D BY:
£CONTOIS
Director, Police Technical Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD:
Police Chief
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
Assistant City Manager
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