Law Enforcement
The Green Bay Police Department is the main law enforcement agency for the Green Bay Packers football games. Even during big plays when network congestion is the highest, FirstNet gives them faster speeds, better data exchanges, and clearer calls. FirstNet has also made a difference for Green Bay police outside the stadium, like when they tracked a fleeing shooting suspect.
Buses taking students to and from schools in Carroll County, Maryland are now equipped with FirstNet. With these advanced communication capabilities, the fleet can stay in touch with school headquarters at all times, enhancing the safety and security of students.
Eleven examples of FirstNet used in the field by law enforcement.
Brian Schoonmaker was named Chief of Police in Hazleton, Pennsylvania in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. With FirstNet, Chief Schoonmaker jumped right into developing policies to keep the community and police officers safe during this unprecedented event.
The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office in South Dakota covers a diverse jurisdiction, from the Badlands to Black Elk Peak. Communication is key for deputies in every part of the largely rural county. FirstNet provides the coverage and capacity they need when seconds count.
America’s first responders are at the heart of the FirstNet Authority’s mission. Many FirstNet Authority staff are either current or former public safety officials. Collectively, they have deep experience in all public safety disciplines. We celebrate all first responders on Honoring the Nation's First Responders Day, and we appreciate their service every day of the year.
The FirstNet network core provides first responders with a foundation for advancing their use of mobile broadband with mission critical features they never had before. The FirstNet core network is based on 4G LTE technology. The next generation of cellular technology, 5G, is on the horizon and in the process of being implemented around the world by more than 200 cellular operators. In addition to greater device capacity, the 5G architecture breaks the core into many smaller pieces and locates them all over the network. This creates increased resiliency, more redundancy, improved security and puts users physically closer to where the networks higher order computing takes place.
The Arlington Police Department in Texas is using FirstNet to support tools that help officers better serve their communities. FirstNet’s dedicated network gives Arlington Police confidence and reliability across the city to remain connected to the resources they need most.
In Walker County, Alabama, Sheriff Nick Smith said that digital radios running over FirstNet kept deputies connected to dispatch and an aviation unit that helped locate missing persons. Walker County deputies currently carry DuraForce Pro 2 smartphones by Kyocera which use FirstNet, a broadband network for first responders offered by AT&T.
During a missing person search last fall in a remote part of the western Black Hills in South Dakota, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office had no cell-phone service. Within hours of calling FirstNet, Captain Tony Harrison said that the AT&T-FirstNet team set up a mobile cell tower to allow deputies to communicate with dispatch and locate the missing person.
Download a FirstNet in Action International Association of Chiefs of Police information sheet.
The U.S. Coast Guard acts as a key part of our nation’s maritime safety, supporting a wide range of missions—from search and rescue to counter-drug operations. The Coast Guard has equipped more than 1,300 pilots and aircrew with FirstNet-enabled devices to aid in day-to-day operations as well as during major events and incidents, such as Fleet Week and the Super Bowl.
As the nation continues to face the effects of COVID-19, call centers have had adjust their operations in order to maintain communications for 9-1-1 and 3-1-1 calls, while keeping their employees safe. Thanks to FirstNet, the Office of Unified Communications has been able to continue operating safely and securely.
As a former Sheriff and elected official in the state of Minnesota, Richard Stanek has been engaged in public safety communications at the local, state, and national levels throughout his career. From working on a statewide LMR network to setting up a state-of-the-art 911 center to serving six years on the FirstNet Authority Board, he has seen firsthand how technology can help first responders do their jobs safer and more efficiently.
Priority and preemption allow first responders to remain connected to FirstNet, even in times of high network congestion, and the FirstNet Authority is continually testing these features to ensure their functionality. Public safety agencies in Canton and Stark County, Ohio and Derry, New Hampshire have experienced the difference priority and preemption make in every day operations and emergency incidents.
This is the sixth entry in a blog series that will explore the six FirstNet Authority Roadmap domains. You can also learn about the Core, Coverage and Capacity, Situational Awareness, Voice Communications and Secure Information Exchange domains by downloading the full Roadmap at firstnet.gov/Roadmap.
In March 2020, several tornadoes tore across middle Tennessee. In Putnam County, 80 miles outside of Nashville, an EF-4 tornado caused major damage to structures and a public safety radio tower. With communications severely limited, state and local first responders turned to FirstNet for coverage from deployables and push-to-talk on smartphones.