Wireless Law Enforcement

Everyone agrees that all levels of government should be able to communicate during routines and emergencies, but no one expects it to be easy.

On paper, the government's effort to create a national, interoperable wireless communications network for federal, state and local law enforcement agencies sounds like a no-brainer. The departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury have joined forces through a joint program office to develop and deploy the Integrated Wireless Network, which will help them coordinate operations during law enforcement, homeland defense and disaster response missions. The estimated worth of the contract is $2.5 billion, though it has a $10 billion ceiling over its expected 15-year life span.

The IWN faces a barrage of challenges and complications, not the least of which is that nobody knows what technology will look like a year from now, much less 15 years down the road, industry officials say.

The government has embarked on ambitious, visionary projects before. Some have fallen apart and others remain questionable. The Internal Revenue Service, for example, watched its information technology modernization program struggle during the 1990s before regaining control over it. Congressional appropriators recently expressed concern that the Army's $125 billion Future Combat Systems might fall behind schedule and rise in cost. And the FBI's Virtual Case File system was scrapped last April after $170 million had been invested in it.

Some fear that DHS, Justice and Treasury are falling into the same trap by setting their sights too high with IWN.

"It's a little like sitting in front of the fireplace every year waiting on Santa Claus," says an industry official who asked to remain anonymous. "I want somebody to point me to a multiyear, multibillion-dollar project undertaken by the government that has been successful."

The official noted that different wireless service providers operate in different sections of the country, meaning the program probably will involve every provider in existence today. It's likely that DHS, Justice and Treasury eventually will go their separate ways, awarding individual contracts for their own wireless networks and then pledge to an interoperability requirement, the official added.

The joint program office, led by the Justice Department, declined requests for interviews. In written responses to questions, however, office staffers said they intended to award a performance-based contract that will allow a prime contractor to work on IWN for up to 15 years. The contract will include a base period of five years, followed by two separate five-year option periods, which can be exercised by the government as needed.

The government expects IWN to serve more than 80,000 law enforcement officials within the three departments-as well as state and local law enforcement agencies-with coverage at up to 2,500 sites nationwide. The system also must be compatible with older technology and existing digital narrowband equipment, integrate security and encrypted communications, and support emerging technology such as Voice over Internet Protocol and multimedia streaming.

At press time, the government planned to award indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts to up to three vendors to design the first location, but reserved the right to select one contractor for the whole effort.

"The risks are commensurate with the scale and complexity of the system," according to the program office. "Risk management is a key aspect of IWN program management. Consequently, the government will employ a number of measures to manage the program during its life cycle. One such mechanism is continuous and structured executive review to ensure the program meets government requirements and stays on schedule and on budget. Another key strategy is the utilization of a performance-based contract."

The solicitation also hints at the complexities of dealing with evolving technology. "Given the pace of change in technology and national and world conditions, it is impossible to anticipate how individual IWN requirements will evolve over the life of the contract."

But the theory already has run into biting reality. Hurricane Katrina demolished or severely degraded federal, state and local communications networks, as well as electricity and other services. Justice Chief Information Officer Vance Hitch told a House subcommittee in September that the department is reviewing lessons learned from the hurricane to determine whether any IWN requirements should be changed.

"We will also look at strategies for reducing dependence on utility services that are at risk of damage or failure during a storm or a terrorist attack," he added.

Meanwhile, some industry officials have faith the government can turn IWN into a success story.

"I think the government's getting wiser when it comes to dealing with technology," says Darren Bezdek, manager of subcontracting opportunities at Reston, Va.-based INPUT, an information technology consulting firm.

In an October report, he identified IWN as one of three large government procurement programs with the greatest potential for subcontracting opportunities, particularly in the areas of software, switches and security measures. "Cutting-edge products deployed at the beginning of the program will need to be replaced, frequently, during the performance period," he wrote.

Strong project management also is essential, says Joel Capperella, market manager for Primavera Systems Inc., a consulting company based outside of Philadelphia.

Capperella says government agencies are becoming more disciplined in managing contracts. They are locking down contractor rates, requiring regular performance reviews and documenting procedures. It's especially important, he adds, to agree in advance on cost escalation rates over the duration of a long contract such as IWN. "If there is a disciplined procedure to monitor the performance and the way programs are progressing, then controlling them isn't that difficult," he says.