PURPOSE

Staff is requesting City Council authorization of a joint Resolution declaring ICIS a priority among Homeland Security and Federal Appropriations requests.

BACKGROUND

Along with Glendale and several other cities within Los Angeles County, Burbank entered into a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) to establish seamless, region-wide radio communications, more technically known as ICIS (Interagency Communications Interoperability System). Besides Burbank and Glendale, JPA members include Beverly Hills, Culver City, Montebello, Pomona, and Torrance.

Burbank and Glendale are among the first cities in the Los Angeles region to adopt state-of-the-art radio systems that are able to use radio channels more efficiently (�trunking�). Other cities are in the process of acquiring such systems. Under ICIS, cities are able to link their trunked radio systems to communicate seamlessly with each other and their home city throughout the region. In particular:

• Our first responders are now capable of radio communications to Burbank�s Dispatch from almost anywhere in Los Angeles County.  This potentially life-saving feature is extremely valuable in a police pursuit when clear communication and every second counts. It is also invaluable in providing mutual aid to other jurisdictions. 

• Redundancy is very important in this age of disasters and terrorism, and ICIS provides a back-up radio system. Burbank has already had a chance to use the back-up radio system when our network went down during testing. There was a seamless transition to the ICIS network.

• Burbank radio users have the ability to communicate with any other agency on the system using the same radios at the push of a button. 

With operational benefits like these, it is not surprising that every public safety agency in the nation would like to achieve ICIS. However, a major obstacle is funding. Since its inception, the JPA has sought to obtain state and federal funding. In 2004, ICIS was awarded $500,000 in a federal appropriation from the COPS Technology Grant Program. Also last year, the City of Glendale was awarded $2 million toward expanding interoperability in the Los Angeles region from funds designated for the Los Angeles Area Fire Chiefs Association. However, the JPA is seeking an additional $16 million in funding to expand interoperability to other public agencies and throughout the region.

ANALYSIS

ICIS needs funding to continue to expand and bolster the network.  Federal, state, and local funding is available, and a united front from all the cities involved will assist ICIS in obtaining these needed funds. The ICIS Governance Board believes that a joint resolution of the City Councils from each ICIS participating agency would present such a united front.

Burbank has demonstrated complete confidence in the project, full participation in both the concept and organizational governance board and committees, and has been operating on the ICIS network for the past year. The attached resolution was developed to emphasize the concept and importance of ICIS.

FISCAL IMPACT

There is no negative fiscal impact; however, there may be a positive impact to the extent a joint resolution strengthens the case for federal or state funding.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the City Council approve the joint ICIS Resolution and authorize the Mayor to sign the document declaring ICIS a priority among Homeland Security and Federal Appropriations requests.

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