Cross-border comms
and exercises for officers, TETRA radio communications,
seminars, and workshops. The exercise also included a large
disaster victim identification simulation.
US/Canada cross-border communications
and trials
Agencies on both sides of the 8,891km US/Canada border
have been co-operating for some time. The Royal
Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is a federal force
operating across Canada; as such it needs to link with
agencies in the US for border incidents. It states that “cooperation
between Canadian and American law enforcement
agencies is key to ensuring the safety and security of
residents on either side of the border. The RCMP has
partnered with US agencies to allow our communications
networks to interoperate through a mechanism to connect
via their respective radio networks. In one specific example,
members of the RCMP Shiprider unit based in Windsor,
Ontario have successfully used this radio interoperability
to co-ordinate enforcement actions with their colleagues in
the US. Successful operations have included interdictions of
vessels crossing the international border on the water, which
were facilitated by real-time radio communications between
our two countries.”
Over a number of years, a series of US/Canada trials
have been held; these five CAUSE trials demonstrate interagency
working at several levels. CAUSE V was held in
November 2017 in British Colombia, Canada and the state
of Washington, USA. A simulation of a volcanic eruption
and crater collapse on Mount Baker in northern Washington
state was devised. Though unlikely, if this were to happen
there would be floods along a number of rivers on both sides
of the border as well as dangerous mudslides. This exercise
used 700MHz LTE networks linked to several emergency
operation centres (EOC) providing live, or near real-time,
data and imagery from the field using robots and
personnel. Overall, 17 American and 13 Canadian agencies
took part in the trial. The after-action report can be found at
https://bit.ly/2kuLapw.
The emergency services radio and 911 service in the
Greater Vancouver area are both operated by E-Comm 911,
the province’s largest emergency communications centre.
Gordon Kirk, E-Comm’s senior wireless service delivery
manager, gives an update on how E-Comm 911 works with
the equivalent agencies in Washington state.
“We participate in quarterly meetings with the Canadian
and US public safety officers as well as with the US radio
service providers. At this time the P25 system itself in
Canada is not inter-connected directly with a US system,
but officers are able to work together using radios that have
both P25 and VHF analogue capability. British Colombia
and Washington state have a medical response mutual-aid
agreement in place signed by the state governor and the
provincial premier. This means that medical response in
particular can be taken across the border in either direction,
and medications and medical procedures are harmonised.”
The quarterly meetings review any recent issues and also
plan exercises, and one such is planned for October this year
with Whatcom County in the USA. Kirk adds that “as well
as expanding and testing the range of frequencies available,
there will be further development of common process for
the responders”.
Many agencies are working together, notably US Customs
and Border Protection (CBP), Royal Canadian Mounted
Police and the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA),
as the Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET). In
addition, the significant risk of forest fires in this region
necessitates close co-operation of the forestry and
firefighting teams in both countries. Coastguard, Ministry of
Transport and fire services all co-operate and communicate.
Responders can pick up a “go bag” located at the border
crossing containing a hydrant adapter, mapbook and radio
frequency information.
“Talk group naming is important, and in the future when
both sides are using 700MHz public safety LTE, we will be
endeavouring to standardise the naming of channels,” says
Kirk. “We are working with the provincial and national
agencies, defining how LTE will be implemented for public
safety here in Canada. This will greatly simplify cross-border
communications when fully available; right now FirstNet is
not available on the US side of the border in our region and
it will be some time before Canada has a nationwide system.
Let’s not forget that public cell phones give us cross-border
communications today. Fire and police chiefs and other
officers have each other’s numbers; at this time we have to use
telephony to connect dispatch centres over the border.
911 calls can be redirected over the border today, but
integrating the operating picture and dispatch is something
for the future.”
Manufacturer ISI participation
Jaakko Saijonmaa, senior expert from Airbus Defence and
Space, tells us that the TETRA ISI standard had been in
place for some time, with certificates issued to a number
30 www.criticalcomms.com October 2019
Adobe Stock/ehrlif
Interoperability
between US
and Canadian
agencies
has been
strengthened in
recent years by a
series of trials
Successful operations have included
interdictions of vessels crossing the
border on the water, facilitated by
real-time radio communications
/2kuLapw
/www.criticalcomms.com