Colorado lawmakers want to force emergency responders to come up with plans to make their public-safety radio systems communicate with all others in the state.
The special homeland security committee on Monday proposed a bill that would require every local government agency – from mountain-town volunteer fire groups to the Denver Police Department – to create an “interoperability” plan.
The bill is an attempt to push along an effort that has lagged since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 when interagency communications problems stymied rescue efforts. Six sheriffs’ offices, 20 police departments, and 12 fire and emergency-medical service agencies responded that day.
“There has been no statewide coordination to try to get local jurisdictions to do this,” said Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, chairman of the homeland security committee.
Grossman floated the idea with his fellow lawmakers on Monday, with hopes that the bill could be introduced by April 21.
To punish local agencies that fail to comply with the requirement, the state department of local affairs would be ordered not to dispense grants to the agency until it submits an interoperability report.
The state previously attempted to deal with splintered radio operations by financing the digital trunked radio system that was supposed to put fire, police and other emergency responders on the same wavelength.
But that system isn’t made by the same manufacturer as radio systems in some of the state’s largest communities, including Denver. So some cities have tried to develop “patches” to link into the state system.
Another problem has hampered the state system: Funding fell short when the state slipped into a recession earlier this decade.
The state and local governments have spent about $75 million to build the network, but the system was not completed before the state started making more than $1 billion in spending cuts to cope with the recession.
Lawmakers on the homeland security committee supported the proposed bill.
“We don’t want to figure out how this doesn’t work on the day of the disaster,” said Rep. David Balmer, R-Centennial.
“We need to figure this out ahead of time.”
First responders have continued to have communication problems – though not as dire as those during the Columbine shootings.
Grossman said Glendale fire officials were unable to talk on their radios with Denver officials during a December 2003 apartment fire that killed one woman.
Some lobbyists expressed concern that the requirement could turn into a cost for local governmental agencies.
“We want to make sure that reports aren’t being required for the sake of reporting,” said Kevin Bommer, lobbyist for the Colorado Municipal League.
But Balmer responded, “We cannot have our solution be that we don’t do anything because it’s an unfunded mandate.”
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
