On April 17, 2015, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a motion to endorse an amended public safety network construction plan proposed by the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS), while also approving the siting of cell sites at 19 police stations. The vote rescinded an April 1 council vote (TRDaily, April 2) that halted construction of the LA-RICS LTE network at city fire and police stations. However, the plan endorsed on April 17 would not include any deployments at fire stations. Fire union officials and their members, as have some residents, have expressed concern about the health impacts of RF emissions from towers.
“Today was a victory for the men and women of public safety and the residents of the City of Los Angeles region,” said City Councilmember Mitchell Englander, the chair of the Public Safety Committee who introduced the emergency motion. “The action taken today by the City Council allows Los Angeles to retain over $100 million in federal grant funding in order to deliver a vital emergency communications technology to our region while creating greater accountability for the LA-RICS Joint Powers Authority (JPA).”
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors gave LA-RICS the go-ahead to construct the proposed cell sites contained in the amended build-out plan it submitted to the federal government this week (TRDaily, April 16). LA-RICS said in the plan that it would construct 46 permanent hardened sites and two microwave-only installations for backhaul purposes as part of a baseline deployment. LA-RICS also would deploy 15 new sites that are owned by the state where cells on wheels (COWs) can be deployed. The sites approved by the board include 30 owned or leased by the county and 18 independent city sites, LA-RICS said. LA-RICS originally planned to deploy 232 cell sites.
LA-RICS also wants to deploy cell sites at two city sites of the Los Angeles Port Authority and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. In its plan, LA-RICS said an additional option would be to include in its deployment plan building out the 19 city police station sites, but it said such action was not currently recommended.
LA-RICS submitted the amended plan in the wake of the federal government’s suspension of further construction of its project (TRDaily, April 3). The suspension came after the Board of Supervisors and the City Council voted to halt LA-RICS construction of cell sites on government-owned land in their jurisdictions, including at fire and police stations. The City Council motion adopted today recommended “that for the Police Department sites that have not been either completed or already under construction, that LA-RICS review the feasibility of adding the LTE equipment to existing towers rather than installing new structures. If it is determined that a new tower is needed, placement shall be the furthest away from inhabited facilities, stations, or office as feasible.”
The motion noted that 10 of the police station sites are 75% complete, five are about 50% complete, and construction has not started on the other four. The motion requires LA-RICS to partner with the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) in information sharing. “First and foremost, our primary goal is to protect the men and women of the LAPD,” said LAPPL President Craig Lally. “The Los Angeles Police Protective League wants to thank and give our appreciation to Councilmember Englander for working very closely with us to address all of our concerns.” “We are thankful for the leadership of Councilman Englander, Mayor [Eric] Garcetti, and the City Council in successfully finding a compromise that will increase our region’s interoperability capacity, while still addressing the concerns of our Firefighters and residents,” said Capt. Frank Lima, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City.
“This is an important project for our first responders, but Firefighter input and concerns needed to be addressed. Today, Councilmember Englander ensured that this was the case, while still working to move the system forward.” “The action by the Los Angeles City Council today is a very important step in ensuring emergency communications for all public safety responders in the City of Los Angeles and the county as a whole,” LA-RICS Executive Director Pat Mallon told TRDaily. “LA-RICS will work closely with the offices of Mayor Garcetti and Councilmember Englander and the Police Protective League to ensure all member safety concerns are addressed. We will be working with NTIA to amend the Corrective Action Plan to reflect the addition of these sites and hope to begin construction on or before May 1st.” – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com