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Standards for Equipment and Procedures

One of the first steps to interoperability is deciding on standards for equipment and procedures. NIJ has developed standards for other equipment, such as body armor, and is developing standards for communications equipment.

NIJ is identifying relevant existing standards, with the long-term goal of adapting or adopting them as NIJ interoperability standards. Examples of existing standards include those followed by the:

• Telecommunications Industry Association Exit Notice
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Exit Notice

The goal is to create standards that minimize changes to law enforcement's existing internal systems and procedures. (In rare cases, new standards may need to be developed.)

Project 25 Standard

NIJ also funds the Chairmanship of the Project 25 (P25) Standard Steering Committee. P25 is a standard currently in development. P

25 Phase 1 products can communicate in analog mode with legacy radios and in either digital or analog mode with other P25 radios. P25 Phase 2 equipment will be able to communicate with Phase 1 radios, and could be ordered with analog FM. Both standardized platforms provide significant gains in efficient use of finite radio spectrum without reductions in coverage.

The Wisconsin State Patrol has devoted several years to developing a strategy for adopting the Project 25 radio interoperability standards. The Wisconsin State Patrol ran a four-site pilot program that created P25 capabilities across the network. Although the agency ran into several glitches related to programming, a problem all agencies should be aware of when adopting new technology, other law enforcement agencies may benefit from the lessons learned through Wisconsin's experience.