Agencies must cooperate on joint radio system

Congress should require the Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury departments to develop a nationwide joint radio communications system to coordinate responses to emergencies such as a terrorist attack, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Friday.

The Integrated Wireless Network, first conceived in 2001 after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is envisioned to allow law enforcement and disaster response agencies to communicate in the aftermath of a natural disaster or domestic terrorist attack. But instead of working together to create a secure, interoperable network, each of the departments is working independently to modernize its own communications system, which are not interoperable, according to the GAO report.

The three departments "could not agree on a common outcome or purpose that overcame their differences in missions, cultures and established ways of doing business," the report noted. The agencies failed to establish a collaborative governance structure for resolving disputes and have not set a collective strategy for moving forward, it added.

A demonstration of the network in the Seattle area was judged to not be suitable for nationwide implementation. GAO recommended separate, but interoperable networks, as an alternative to a nationwide system, provided that Justice, DHS and Treasury agree on an implementation strategy.

GAO recommended Congress consider setting deadlines for completing each of the following requirements:

Establish an effective governance structure that includes a formal process for making decisions and resolving disputes;

Define and articulate a common outcome for effort; and

Develop a joint strategy for improving radio communications.