Public Safety

PISC Comments on Re-auction of D Block

Wireless Future — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:15:00 -0400

COMMENTS OF THE

PUBLIC INTEREST SPECTRUM COALITION

The Media Access Project, on behalf of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC), hereby submits these comments with regard to the above captioned proceeding. The failure of the D Block license to attract a bidder presents the Commission with a unique opportunity to restructure this band of spectrum in a way that will both serve the needs of public safety and the broader goals of the Communications Act. To that end,

Letter to Chairman Martin Re: Reauction of D Block

Wireless Future — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:43:00 -0400

Chairman Kevin Martin
Federal Communications Commission
445 Twelfth Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554

Re: Service Rules for the 698-746, 747-762, and 777-792 MHz Bands
WT Docket No. 06-150

Implementing a Nationwide, Broadband, Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band
PD Docket No. 06-229

Dear Chairman Martin:

Crime or Punishment

Cecille Isidro — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 19:28:00 -0500

Sacramento lawmakers are in a trap. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton will decide in little more than three months whether to set a population cap on the state’s vastly overcrowded prison system, potentially forcing the early release of thousands of convicted criminals. To keep the court at bay, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the Legislature to approve billions in new prison construction money, and to consider revising sentencing and parole laws to put fewer criminals behind bars.

The trap is this: California voters want criminals locked up, as they demonstrated again last year when they overwhelmingly passed an initiative that toughened sentences for sex offenders. So they’re generally against loosening the sentencing laws. But at the same time, they also oppose spending any more of the state’s tax money to build more prisons, according to polls.

So what are legislators to do? The enormity of the prison system’s ills makes inaction no longer viable. Prison facilities are packed to twice their intended capacity, California has the country’s highest recidivism rate, and the $8-billion corrections budget is already the third-largest spending category. Failure to take action will probably mean a takeover of the prison system by the courts.

Crime has long been the most dangerous third rail in California politics. The 1993 abduction and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas by a repeat felon triggered a wave of public fear and anger. The following year, the "three strikes" law, mandating a 25-years-to-life sentence for a third felony conviction, overwhelming passed.

Lately, there have been some small indications that attitudes might be changing, and that voters might be willing to rethink their views. Crime statewide is down -- so perhaps the sentencing reform won’t seem quite so scary -- and support for more prison spending is growing, though it remains a distinctly minority view.

A survey last month by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that just 34% of the public support more prison funding, with nearly two-thirds opposing it. And even if the state received unexpected revenue, 57% of likely voters would still oppose spending the money on prison construction. But the survey also indicated a shift in attitudes. Respondents were asked whether state funding on prisons should be increased, remain the same or be cut. Roughly one-third of likely voters fell into each category. That’s a significant change from, say, January 2005, when the survey found that just 13% of voters supported an increase in prison spending and nearly half favored a cut in the prison budget.

Less encouraging for politicians is the fact that the survey data indicate that the key swing-voter groups in California are most opposed to new prison spending. Independent voters, a rising category, are more likely to oppose the idea than either Democrats or Republicans.

And while opposition to more money for prisons crossed nearly every demographic category, the most negative findings were from middle- and upper-income households and from those in the San Francisco Bay Area. By contrast, the issue was nearly divided in Los Angeles, as it was among Latinos and lower-income households.

Lawmakers appear frozen by a cynical political calculation. They could step onto the third rail by approving a plan that would boost prison spending and reconsider criminal sentences for nonviolent criminals. Or they could allow the crisis to escalate by doing nothing, and then try to blame a federal judge for it.

"Some . . . have suggested to me, ‘Just let the governor do it,’ " state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) said at a recent news conference. "Sit back and wait. Others have said, ‘Just let the courts do it.’ I reject both of those approaches."

In December, Romero joined Schwarzenegger to announce an $11-billion plan to expand the bed capacity of the corrections system by building more prisons and to create a commission that would consider new sentencing laws.

****

But the time and political capital the governor wants to spend on universal healthcare, new public works projects and political reform, among other initiatives, may leave little to invest in fixing the corrections system. And the same goes for the Legislature, which last year rejected Schwarzenegger’s $9-billion proposal to build more prisons.

The solution to the political crisis will take a public education campaign to remind voters that overhauling the state’s criminal justice system by building more prisons and redoing sentencing and parole laws is a tough-on-crime position. The new money is not being spent to coddle criminals. Also, to reject an overhaul is to put public safety at greater risk.

The growing public support for more funding of prisons suggests that voters are increasingly aware of the financial cost of the tough-on-crime policies they support.

National polls also indicate that voters recognize that a lack of rehabilitation programs will make crime worse. More than 60% of respondents in a Zogby poll last year said it was "very important" that inmates released from prison have access to job training, mental health services, mentoring and family assistance.

The last year in Sacramento was widely described as one of the most productive in years because Schwarzenegger and the Legislature set aside political differences to achieve bipartisan compromises on several major issues. So far this year, the political mood in the Capitol seems to be more conducive to compromise than stalemate.

The prison crisis is a crucial test for government. If it’s not addressed and dangerous criminals are released, politicians will deserve the outrage from a public that was just starting to think things had gotten better.

From TV to Public Safety

Wireless Future — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 04:41:00 -0400

Abstract

The events surrounding Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks demonstrated that the communications systems used by first responders in the United States are not adequate to meet the challenges of a post-9/11 world. The U.S. system is based on assumptions that local agencies should have maximal flexibility at the expense of standardization and regional coordination, that commercial carriers and municipal systems have little role to play, that public safety should not share spectrum or network infrastructure, and that narrowband voice applications should dominate. Many programs have been proposed to incrementally improve public safety communications systems, but without any fundamental changes to these policies, such incremental changes are likely to have limited impact.

However, a tremendous opportunity is coming thanks to the transition to digital television; 24 MHz of spectrum has been identified for reallocation from TV to public safety in 2009, roughly doubling the public safety spectrum below 2 GHz. Unless policymakers act, this new spectrum will be managed under these same old policies.

This paper explains why it is time for fundamental reform. Policy reforms should include some combination of: shifting some responsibility and authority for decisions about public safety communications infrastructure from many independent local government agencies to the federal government; further expanding the role of commercial service providers, municipal Wi-Fi networks, and other systems that serve the public; allowing public safety to share spectrum, and possibly multi-purpose network infrastructure as well, with other users; and further expanding capabilities beyond traditional voice communications. Since the TV band spectrum reallocated to public safety has few legacy systems that must be accommodated or moved, it is an excellent place to launch a new policy.

To read the entire paper, please see the PDF document linked below.

Wireless Public Safety Data Networks Operating on Unlicensed Airwaves

Wireless Future — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 07:00:00 -0400

From the fire fighters who died on 9/11 to the rescue workers struggling to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, recent crises have demonstrated that the absence of reliable and interoperable voice and data communications among public safety agencies is an urgent national dilemma. While the need for voice interoperability among first responders is a fundamental and longstanding public safety issue that must be resolved, many communities across the nation have already begun to supplement their voice communication networks with wireless broadband data networks operating over unlicensed spectrum—most notably the 2.4 GHz “Wi-Fi” band.

These cutting-edge mobile high-speed data networks complement voice systems and serve as a cost-effective means to deliver applications such as streaming video for surveillance and disaster response, fast downloads of suspect mug shots or building blueprints, and access to public safety databases. By providing first responders with more resources in the field—and reducing the time they need spend in the office – these wireless data networks act as a “force multiplier,” improving overall public safety.