ARLA/CLUSTER: Isto não vos far lembrar algo? Só 1 dos 479 empregados sabe utilizar os radios .

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

Homeland Security spent $430M on radios its employees don't know how to use

Only one of 479 employees surveyed could operate radio correctly.
by Theodoric Meyer, ProPublica - Nov 21 2012, 9:50pm UTC


Nick Getting the agencies responsible for national security to
communicate better was one of the main reasons the Department of
Homeland Security was created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks.

But according to a recent report from the department's inspector
general, one aspect of this mission remains far from accomplished.

DHS has spent $430 million over the past nine years to provide radios
tuned to a common, secure channel to 123,000 employees across the
country. Problem is, no one seems to know how to use them.

Only one of 479 DHS employees surveyed by the inspector general's
office was actually able to use the common channel, according to the
report. Most of those surveyed—72 percent—didn't even know the common
channel existed. Another 25 percent knew the channel existed but
weren't able to find it; 3 percent were able to find an older common
channel, but not the current one.

The investigators also found that more than half of the radios did not
have the settings for the common channel programmed into them. Only 20
percent of radios tested had all the correct settings.

The radios are supposed to help employees of Customs and Border
Patrol, the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, the Secret Service, and other agencies with DHS communicate
during crises, as well as normal operations.

DHS officials did not immediately respond to questions from ProPublica
about what effect the radio problems could have on how the agency
handles an emergency.

The $430 million paid for radio infrastructure and maintenance as well
as the actual radios.

In a response letter to the report, Jim H. Crumpacker, the Department
of Homeland Security's liaison between the Government Accountability
Office and the inspector general, wrote that DHS had made "significant
strides" in improving emergency communications since 2003. But he
acknowledged that DHS "has had some challenges in achieving
Department-wide interoperable communications goals."

The recent inspector general's report is the latest in a string of
critical assessments the DHS has received on its efforts to improve
communication between federal, state, and local agencies. The
Government Accountability Office reported in 2007 that the Department
of Homeland Security had "generally not achieved" this goal.

DHS has assigned a blizzard of offices and committees to oversee its
radio effort since 2003, which the inspector general's report claimed
had "hindered DHS' ability to provide effective oversight."

Also, none of the entities "had the authority to implement and enforce
their recommendations," the report concluded. Tanya Callender, a
spokeswoman for the inspector general, said the current office
overseeing the effort hadn't been given the authority to force
agencies to use the common channel or even to provide instructions for
programming the radios.

The inspector general recommended DHS standardize its policies
regarding radios, which DHS agreed to do. But it rejected a second
recommendation that it overhaul the office overseeing the radios to
give it more authority.

"DHS believes that it has already established a structure with the
necessary authority to ensure" that its various agencies can
communicate, Crumpacker wrote in his response letter.

.