Moving Tactical Field Operational Plans from Paper to Practice: Making a System Field Operational Virginia Beach Police Department Total Run Time: 20:00:00 [intro music] Robert Nibarger: The following is the seventh in a series of recorded audio interviews distributed via website podcast 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 2007-CK-WX-K002. 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 Inter Operability 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 inter-operability. 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 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 the Chairman of the ORION Advisory Group. This group was formed to facilitate the opportunity to garner operational input for ORION and 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, discussing developer 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 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 because they're more comfortable and proficient with its use. Robert: Can you expand on the role of these operational elements in running 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 is the online training we are working on developing that we 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 paged 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? Bob: Exercises and training play a huge role in this transition. It's through the use of training drills and exercises that the end user is able to become more familiar with the technology and its capabilities. This ensures the end user is better prepared to use that technology when it is needed, and also allows those opportunities to identify any gaps or issues that need to be corrected or improved. Robert: The TICP was developed to be all encompassing of the elements of ORION and the Hampton Roads regional emergency communications access from 800 MHz channel plans to individual agency trunked radio talk groups. It has proven to be a very large document. Compressing the TICP into a regional field operations guide sometimes called RFOG is the next step for Hampton Roads. What do you perceive to be the role of the RFOG for Hampton Roads and ORION? Bob: I perceive the role of the RFOG to be one of providing the incident commander or any end user with the critical information that they require from the TICP in a much more useful format while managing an incident. This document, which will be reviewed and updated regularly just like the TICP, will also be a resource that can be provided to those public safety personnel that are responding into the Hampton Roads area to assist with an incident. And they will most likely not be familiar with the region, with its communication systems or its critical infrastructure. Robert: We know that most of this TICP was never directly relevant to the field personnel. Trained first responders focus on their specific radio requirements and execute their mission based on their training. How does the RFOG help the everyday first responder? Bob: It helps the everyday first responder because the RFOG is currently being developed specifically with the end user input and is designed to provide the first responder with exactly the information they require to carry out their mission. Robert: Also, when a large scale regional emergency does take place, the larger base of emergency first responders provide assistance. How is the RFOG going to help during a large scale multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency response? Bob: Well, as I mentioned a moment ago, it will also be a resource that can be provided to those public safety personnel that are responding into the Hampton Roads area to assist with an incident. And it will provide them with information they need as they will most likely not be familiar with the region, the communications systems or critical infrastructure that is available. Robert: Once the RFOG is developed, it will be an additional tool for the Hampton Roads first responders as well as those responding to the region. How do you propose to educate the Hampton Roads first responder community on the use and availability of the RFOG? Bob: Information about the RFOG is going to be an integral part of the training being developed for the first responders in addition to all other information provided in that outlying training that I just discussed earlier. Additionally, it will be available in an electronic format as well as a printed format once the RFOG is finalized. Robert: How does the RFOG fit in with the other elements of your goal to operationalize ORION? Bob: The RFOG is right in line with the advisory group's goal of making the ORION system operational. It is one more valuable resource that will provide the end user with information and resources they require to manage a large scale incident. Robert: Sergeant Christman, you have gone from ORION inception to ORION installation to TICP development to ORION expansion, table top exercises to RFOG with all the idea of having a fully operational system that the users know how to use and when the time comes. What have you seen as some of your key challenges? Bob: One of the biggest key challenges that I have seen is simply ensuring that we include representatives from all jurisdictions and from the agencies within those jurisdictions that are part of ORION. Getting their input upfront is critical, not only to the development of each stage of the process but also to obtaining buy-in from the end users with regards to the benefit of the system and its use, once it is developed in a new place. Robert: Looking back, what would you do differently that other grantees could benefit from when they are starting a new project similar to ORION? Bob: I think one of the biggest things that anyone could benefit from when beginning a project as significant as an interoperable communication system is to provide for the first responders or end users input into how the system needs to feel and what it needs to provide. And allowing the technical personnel to take that information and include it in the manner in which they develop the technical part of the system. Robert: When ORION is fully realized and taken from paper to practice, what do you see as the key benefits of the system? Bob: What I see is the key benefits providing the first responders with an expanded and more effective means of communicating during any large scale incident. This could be an incident that involves multiple agencies within a single jurisdiction or multiple agencies for multiple jurisdictions. The system is providing for ways to bridge gaps in communication. Instead, previously we had no such resource to meet that need. Robert: In closing, what are your take-away messages for the success of others in transitioning from a tactical plan to actual system operations? Bob: From the inception of developing a system like this, I think that it is very critical to make sure that in addition to the technical personnel that are involved, that the end users, those that are going to be on the street, in the field using the system support operations, need to be involved from the inception, from the early planning. And I think that it makes it much easier to be able to identify and discuss the various resources or support that's needed for their operations as that system is put in place. Robert: You have been listening to a SEARCH podcast on "Moving Tactical Field Operational Plans from Paper to Practice." We would like to thank our guest, Sergeant Bob Christman, Virginia Beach Police Department and Chairman of the ORION Advisory Group. This project was supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2007-CK-WX-K002 by the U. S. Department of Justice of Community Oriented Policing Services. Points of view or opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guests and moderators and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U. S. Department of Justice. [music] Transcription by CastingWords p.