Why Police Agencies Still Can't Communicate In A Crisis

The four separate police agencies involved in the disorganized response to last summer's protests in Ferguson (MO) couldn't easily talk to each other. It might seem inconceivable that interagency communication would be a problem in 2015. But nine years after The 9/11 Commission Report recommended better communications between agencies, and decades since federal reports began identifying problems with how first responders co-ordinate, there are still no federal standards in place.

While there has been some progress toward a nationwide solution, it's still a long way off. A draft summary of a Justice Department report on the law enforcement response to the Ferguson protests makes brief mention of the apparent communication breakdown among cops in Ferguson. The solution is twofold: establishing a broadband frequency that those agencies can access, and making sure everyone at those agencies has the equipment to use it.