Nashville has taken the terrorist threats seriously! Usually the city is on Opcon 1. But now, they are on Opcon 3 all the time.

Wasn't that Tennessee native Al Gore at the Chick-Fil-A? Behind the counter?

Now you know were the danger is... they performed a security bag check on attendees to the Charlies Daniels concert and Giuliani's talk. But no bag checks were made for the two association business meetings.

Giuliani reportedly appeared for free. Well, his consulting company does have Nextel as a client, so perhaps there's a connection.

Giuliani, like Daniels, signed autographs for a select few at a luncheon before his speech.

After Giuliani left the stage, so did the entire contingent of APCO officials from their front row seats. Sorta left Jim Hall a little lonely.

NENA... at APCO? NENA president John Melcher arrived in time for Giuliani's speech, and was warmly hugged by incoming APCO president Thera Bradshaw.

Was Jim Hall's accent familiar? He's a Tennesseean.

Hall joked about his shorted remarks. "I'll be over at the Jack Daniels saloon later," if anyone wanted the full version.

An announcement: any Life Member who left his jacket and pin at the restaurant, you can pick it up from Glen Nash.

2002 Annual Conference
Association of
Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO)

by Gary Allen

PSAP Tour & Giuliani

There was an electricty when Giuliani stepped on stage for the afternoon session, and received a standing ovation. He roamed the stage give his talk, and rarely stayed in one spot for very long. His talk mirrored other that has given, and focused briefly on public safety communications. After the one-hour talk, he spent about 15 minutes fielding questions from the audience. He never mentioned his consulting company's link to Nextel, but did briefly mention the consensus proposal on 800 MHz interference that APCO and several groups submitted to the FCC last week.

Giuliani was engaging, funny, seemingly honest and informative. He told some stories of his early career, and then outlined his recollection of Sept. 11th. He outlined five principles he used, "for figuring out how to get through a crisis and figuring out whether someone is a good leader or has a good crisis plan."

The principles were: you have to have a philosophy, prepration, teamwork, courage and communications. For each principle, Giuliani recounted some examples and stories. [for a transcript of Giuliani's complete speech, see the Mobile Radio Technology site].

He said interoperability was solved in his case by continuing his usual practice of having face-to-face meetings around a table. In this case, he just needed a larger table that could accomodate all the city and federal agencies that were involved. He also mentioned the need for agencies to intercommunicate. He said he was happy to hear of the consensus proposal that APCO and other had submitted. "I think that can be a very positive improvement for the future," he said.

He said the city's response was helped by their previous planning for the worst possible disaster. He said emergency officials had actually planned and trained for a "routine" plane crash somewhere in the city, but never anticipated the type of crash that actually occurred. He said the process of emergency planning should always push upward and outward to include the most serious possible circumstances. He said that, even if something unexpected occurs, that planning will still be applicable to the unanticipated incident. "There's nothing that I can say to emphasize more of the importance of being prepared."

But, "having said all that," Giuliani said, we should learn to relax. He explained that terrorism is just one more risk--albeit a horrible one--that we endure every day. "We have to put it in perspective," he said. Terrorists want not only physical destriction, but also a destriction of morale and our way of living. We already accept a certain amount of risk from drunk drivers, heart disease or a domestic violence crime. "We try to reduce all that," he said. But we live with it. Terrorism is just another risk that we take, "and life goes on."

He was particularly complimentary of the passengers on Flight 93, who he said were never trained for such an event. Yet they took the initiative to do what they believed was necessary.

In response to a question from the audience, he modestly said he "borrowed" his courage from others. He explained that he saw others behaving courageously and doing what they had to do. He didn't want to appear differently, so he followed their lead. He also explained that private companies were extremely helpful in providing equipment and personnel after the attack. In one case, he said he called the CEO of General Electric to ask for generators--and received a promise of $10 million for the families of those who died. He said that he felt overwhelmed, "a couple of days." He said the first two days he didn't feel overwhelmed--even though he probably was. At one point, he realized that, "I can't stop, because if I do I may not be able to go back."

Interestingly, Giuliani revealed that he was inside the city's EOC, on the telephone to the White House, for vice-president Dick Cheney, to request air cover for the city when the first World Trade Center tower collapsed. His phone connection was immediately severed.

At the end of talk, Tennessee chapter president Barry Furey presented the former mayor with several hats for the city's police and fire departments--and Giuliani immediately put one of the hats on his head.

Kudos to former National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chairman Jim Hall, who was originally scheduled to have this SuperSession to himself. Barry Furey introduced Hall just after Giuliani left the stage, prompting Hall to quip that no one envied his position--having to follow the former mayor. Hall's shortened talk was generous in his praise of the mayor, and he took a light-hearted view of his predicament. At the end of his Hall's talk, Furey commended him for being so flexible and gracious--and the crowd applauded.

Hall did give some sage advice during his 10 minute appearance. He said that the Sept. 11th incidents will new circles of defense for the country, and that those circles begin with local communities. Communications, he said, is a critical component of that defense. He predicted that it will be "years" before the new Homeland Defense cabinet agency is up to speed, since there are numerous difficulties in consolidating their activities. From his years in government service, he recognizes the political battles and resistance that agencies generate during a consolidation. And in fact, he said, the consolidation may actually degrade the nation's ability to protect against terrorism in the short term. He said the best coordination is often done at the local level, "where we're often forced to work together."

He warned that the increased focus on terrorist should not take away from the core mission that public safety has always performed. Both missions require funding and commitment, he said.

See our photo album for photos.

Resolution Withdrawn

The second association business session was quick and uncomplicated. The executive board withdrew the resolution that proposed a dues increase, "in the interest of allowing members of chapters to consider this," according to president Glen Nash. All four of the other resolutions were passed. The resolution pertaining to support for the CALEA electronic surveillance legislation fielded six "Nays," but the others passed unanimously from the voting group of fewer than 150.

Diana Borash was unanimously elected as 2nd vice-president, and she received hugs from the executive board as she joined them on-stage. Nash received compliments from incoming president Thera Bradshaw. "We depended upon his statesmanship," she said, through the tough times of the past year.

After the official business was completed, a member of the audience rose to praise Nash's work during the past year. Overcome with emotion, Nash stepped aside and Bradshaw said a few words. Nash returned to the microphone and said of the presidency, "It's not something I would have missed." But he added, "It's not something I'm sure I'd want to do again."

Center on a Hill

Outside of the downtown area on a hill with a view, the Metro Nashville police and fire comm center serves over 850,000 residents and visitors. The former TV station building contains the civilian-staffed police center, firefighter-staffed fire center, and a civilian staffed Office of Emergency Management (OEM) center--138 in all. They're located in separate areas of the building, but share the same Printrak CAD software and Motorola 800 MHz trunked radio system.

The police and fire departments serve a combined city and county jurisdiction that include Nashville and Davidson County.

The fire department fields 39 engines, 12 ladder trucks, two HAZMATs, two heavy rescues and one water rescue unit. The firefighters use Medical Priority's EMD system to give callers pre-arrival instructions. The dispatchers handle about 175 to 200 EMS calls a day, and about 50 to 60 fire runs daily, and handled a total of about 88,000 incidents during 2001. There are usually eight dispatchers on-duty at all times, including a supervisor. Their center is a square, compact area with a raised floor, with lots of posters and maps on the wall.

The police comm center is a long, rectangular room with a "tower" supervisors' raised area on one wall. The seven district radio dispatchers are at one end, and the calltakers are at another.The radio dispatchers use a seven-site, 40-channel, two-zone, mixed analog-digital radio system, which is also used by the fire department in digital mode, and by non-emergency city-county agencies in analog mode. The sites are linked by a microwave ring that insures continuous operation even if one site goes down.

The fire dispatchers are faced by six video screens: two CAD, one each for radio, VESTA phones, mapping and paging. The police don't have to stare at as many screens: three or four screens for calltakers and radio dispatchers respectively. The center fields about 2 million telephone calls a year.

Radio and telephone traffic is recorded by a Dictaphone digital system now, but that machine will be moved to a new back-up center soon, and its duties replaced by the Plant Equipment Inc. Pyxis system that has already been delivered. They keep five years of DAT tapes.

The OEM is a small "in-between" center, tucked away near the other two dispatch areas, and includes TVs, weather radars, direct line phones, CAD and other comm links to help manage major incidents and help both the PD and FD with special incidents. For example, the OEM dispatcher will help handle long-term incidents that aren't widespread, such as a large tree down, or localized water problems. Early in 2003 the city will install 70 sirens to provide weather warnings, and the OEM center will be the activation point for the system.

Outside the comm center is a garden memorial for 34-year dispatcher Barbara Rose Clark, who died in 2000. The center's annual Dispatcher of the Year award is also named for her. Adjacent to the center is a looming antenna tower for the radio and microwave systems.

Roxanne Brown was just appointed the new director of the center, and one of her first tasks will be to begin a consolidation of the separate centers. Details are apparently pending, but eventually all dispatchers will be employees of a separate city-county communications agency, and the centers could be physically consolidated in a new facility. The dispatchers politely deferred questions about their future, but it was clear they're feeling uneasy about a new director and a consolidation.

Check our photo album for details of the centers, and Linda Olmstead's photo album.