Goal No. 5: To ensure the safety of the American people, every first responder should have access to a nationwide,
wireless, interoperable broadband public safety network.
In June 2004, the 9/11 Commission released its final report about events of September 11, 2001. The report found that “the inability to communicate was a critical element” at each of the“crash sites, where multiple agencies and multiple jurisdictions responded.” They concluded: “Compatible and adequate communications among public safety organizations at the local,state, and federal levels remains an important problem.”
It remains a problem more than five years later. Often, first responders from different jurisdictions cannot communicate at
the scene of an emergency. Federal officials can rarely communicate with state and local officials. Officials from different
towns and cities have difficulties communicating with each other. What’s more, with few exceptions, current networks
do not take advantage of broadband capability, limiting their capacity to transmit data and hindering potential innovations
in public safety that could save lives.
The country should create a nationwide, wireless, interoperable broadband public safety network by 2020. The network should be robust enough to maintain performance in the aftermath of a disaster, and should allow every first responder, regardless of jurisdiction or agency, to communicate with each other and share real-time data over high-speed connections. Chapter 16 outlines recommendations to make this goal a reality.