Podcast 7
Moving Tactical Field Operational Plans from Paper to Practice: Making a System Field Operational
Topic/Title: "Moving Tactical Field Operational Plans from Paper to Practice: Making a System Field Operational"
Description: The City of Virginia Beach and the Hampton Roads Area in Virginia were one of the first regional consortiums to develop a 700MHz P25 regional shared radio system known as ORION, the Overlay Regional Inter Operability Network. The region developed a Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan (TICP) and Regional Field Operations Guide (RFOG); ORION sets the backdrop for a lesson on how to move plans from paper to the field to ensure that the users know how to use the system when the time comes.

In its COPS 2007 Technology Program grant application, the City of Virginia Beach sought to improve public safety communications in the region through expansion of ORION. ORION is a cooperative venture of seven Hampton Roads cities: Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Suffolk, Portsmouth, and Newport News. ORION’s function is to act as a voice and data network overlaying compatible systems maintained individually by the partners for routine operations and to provide supplemental interagency and incident management communications. The first phase of the network was funded earlier in large part by a 2004 COPS Interoperable Communications Technology Program (ICTP) grant. The proposed second phase targeted improvements in coverage, extension of the data system, addition of further voice and data user radios, and addition of a backup master controller site.
Participants:
Sergeant Bob Christman
Virginia Beach (Virginia) Police Department and Chairman, ORION Advisory Group
Robert Nibarger
Public Safety Technology Specialist
SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics
Recorded: June 24, 2010
Podcast Length: 20:00:00

Robert Nibarger: The following is another in a series of recorded audio interviews on lessons learned and best practices from projects funded through the COPS Technology grants. These podcasts are presented by SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, through funding from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, through a Cooperative Agreement number 2007CKWXK002.

Today's topic is "Moving Tactical Plans from Paper to Practice: Making a System Field Operational." Our guest today is Sergeant Bob Christman, Virginia Beach, Virginia Police Department and chairman of the ORION Advisory Group. I'm Robert Nibarger, a public safety technology specialist for SEARCH and moderator for this podcast.

The city of Virginia Beach and the Hampton Roads area were one of the first regional consortiums to develop a 700 MHz P25 regional shared radio system know as ORION, which stands for Overlay Regional InterOperability Network. The region developed a tactical interoperability plan, TICP, and a regional field operations guide, RFOG, and ORION set the backdrop for a lesson on how to move plans from paper to the field to ensure that users know how to use the system when the time comes.

In its COPS 2007 Tech Program grant application, the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, sought to improve public safety communications in the region through expansion of ORION. ORION is a cooperative venture of seven Hampton Road cities Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Suffolk, Portsmouth and Newport News. ORION's function is to act as a voice and data network overlaying compatible systems maintained individually by the partners for routine operations and to provide supplemental interagency and incident management communications.

The first phase of this network was funded earlier in a large part by a 2004 COPS Interoperable Communications Technology Program, ICTAP, grant. The second proposed phase targeted improvements in coverage, expansion of data system, addition of further voice and data user radios, and addition of a backup master controller's site.

Sergeant Christman, welcome. Can you tell us a bit about the ORION communications system and share your background with it?

Bob Christman: Good morning and thank you, Bob. As you mentioned in the introduction, ORION is an overlay voice and data communications system providing interoperability to the seven cities and their public safety agencies in the Hampton Roads region. This system provides for the programming of zones and talk groups in each agency's mobile and portable radios that are formatted in line with the incident command system structure. This means that there are pre-designated number of talk groups in each zone for incident command logistics, operation, administration, planning and finance. And this allows for more effective and efficient communications between agencies assigned to those specific roles.

I've been a member of the ORION Advisory Group for approximately three years now, and I have served as the chairman for the group for a little more than a year. I have been involved in various activities for the advisory group including our current activities to establish an ORION website and developing online training for all end users of the system.

Robert: Hampton Roads, led by the city of Virginia Beach, received a COPS grant in 2004 and 2007 to build out the Hampton Roads Overlay Regional InterOperability Network, also known as ORION. Can you give us some background on the ORION regional radio system network? More specifically, we know that ORION is a radio system, but from the public safety practitioner perspective, what is ORION?

Bob: ORION is a means of more effectively communicating with other public safety agencies in the region, both those within the agency's jurisdiction and with other agencies external to that jurisdiction. The ORION system not only provides for a more efficient means of communicating with other agencies and jurisdictions, but it also extends the range of an end user's ability to contact and communicate with their agency or communications center.

Robert: Who are some of the partners, agencies and other cities' jurisdictions participating in ORION?

Bob: Currently all of the police, fire and EMS agencies as well as the communication centers or public safety answering points within the previously mentioned seven cities are partners of ORION, those cities being Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. In addition to these agencies, the public safety agencies for James City County, the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Transportation, the CBN Regent University Police Department and Hampton Roads Metropolitan Medical Response System are working with the ORION Advisory Group and Steering Committee to come on board as ORION partners also.

Robert: ORION has its foundations in the incident command system structure. Can you please elaborate further on the role of the system during a regional emergency?

Bob: Yes. As I mentioned earlier, the programming of the zones and talk groups into radios on the ORION system are formatted after the incident command system structure. This allows for the assigning of the appropriate agencies or departments involved in an incident being managed on the ORION system to specific talk groups related to that agency or department's function within the incident.

Robert: Hampton Roads was one of the early pioneers with the development of a 700 MHz P25 regional overlay radio system using a tactical interoperability communications plan, sometimes referred to as a TICP. SEARCH helped to facilitate the development of this plan with stakeholders from the region. What is a TICP, and how does it benefit ORION?

Bob: The TICP, or Tactical Interoperability Communications Plan, is the document that provides extensive information related to the ORION system and interoperability. It is an all inclusive document that provides for a wealth of information from an overview of the system, to the participating jurisdictions, and the systems they operate on which support the ORION system. The TICP is designed to provide the incident commander or end user with the information they require related to operating on the ORION system and managing an incident.

Robert: What are some of the challenges you experienced in developing and implementing the TICP?

Bob: Some of the biggest challenges we experienced while developing the TICP was gathering all of the data required to be included in the document, ensuring that the document provided the information needed and that it was functional for all of the included agencies as there are routinely differences in the way various agencies, such as police, fire, EMS and communications operate on a daily basis. One ongoing challenge is to ensure that the TICP is reviewed and updated on a regular basis to ensure that it is current and accurate information for the user of that TICP.

Robert: You currently serve as Chairman of the ORION Advisory Group. This group was formed to facilitate the opportunity to garner operational input for ORION and as a key stakeholder group for ORION and ultimately to the operational success of the system. Can you please provide some history and background of this group, and why this is important to ORION?

Bob: The advisory group was developed to include representatives from each agency for each participating jurisdiction to ensure that the end users or stakeholders had input about the system, how it works and what the end users need to support their operations. The advisory group is designed to provide the opportunity for the end users to discuss any gaps or issues related to interoperable communications, discuss or develop required resources such as training related to the ORION system, and develop and facilitate ORION exercises to allow the practitioners the opportunity to test the system and their ability to use it as it relates to identified or anticipated incidents.

Robert: Are there obstacles or barriers this group faces when working from an operational perspective with the technical representatives that created the Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan?

Bob: There are always obstacles to things like this, and those primarily revolve around limited resources. The advisory group and the steering committee work well together to identify gaps or issues and to identify the best possible solution to mitigate the identified gaps or issues. As chairman of the advisory group, I have been included in all steering committee meetings to ensure the advisory group is represented in those meetings and provide information back to the advisory group as it relates to the ORION system and any ongoing activities.

Robert: As you know, ensuring the technically capable system based on tactical needs is just one element of a public safety program. Taking the system from technical to operational where users can operate in the field is certainly as or more difficult than the installation of the system. Would you agree?

Bob: Yes.

Robert: With that understanding, what do you consider to be the elements necessary to take a system to an operational state?

Bob: I believe the most important element is, without a doubt, training. If the end user is not familiar with the system and the coverage it's expected to provide and the benefits of using the system, then they are going to continue to use the same communication means they have always used, even it is not as efficient as the new system that is available. By providing training, the end user will be more inclined to use the system when needed and through repeated use become more comfortable and proficient with its use.

Robert: Can you expand on the role of these operational elements in bringing ORION to a field ready operational system?

Bob: Yes. By providing the training and the information to the end users, and then following that up with regular drills or exercises involving those users, you're providing them with a solid platform for becoming familiar with the system and its use. As I mentioned a moment ago, it is through this repeated use that the end user will become more comfortable and proficient with the technology and make it a part of their operational procedures when necessary.

Robert: OK, so now we know that a technical plan is important for the basic foundations of a system and that the operational elements are just as key as the success or failure of the system. A technically sound system is only as good as the first responder's ability to use the system. Can you talk about how the ORION Advisory Group is working to take ORION from a technically sound system with a solid technical plan to one that is fully operational for field personnel?

Bob: That is currently being done through a couple of efforts on the part of the advisory group. The first being the online training we are working on developing that will provide the end user with the knowledge they need about the system itself. The intention is to provide the training in an environment where it can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week to account for the various hours and shifts the public safety personnel are assigned to, making it convenient for them when they are available to use it. The second effort is one we are working on completing with SEARCH, and that is the RFOG or Regional Field Operations Guide. This guide is designed to take the most significant or mission critical information from the 100-plus page TICP and condense it into a much more useful document for the incident commander or end user while they are managing an incident.

Robert: What role does exercise and training play in this transition from technically operational to field operational?