GAO identifies mission, membership overlaps within DHS emergency communications organization

A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that there is an overlap in the missions and membership within a number of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) emergency communications organizations because each of them promotes interoperable emergency communications.

GAO was tasked by Congress to review the four main organizations supported by DHS’s Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration that promote interoperable emergency communications.

Specifically, the organizations include SAFECOM, the Emergency Communications Preparedness Center (ECPC), the National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC), and the Public Safety Advisory Council (PSAC).

For its review, GAO examined the missions and memberships of each organization as well as selected stakeholders’ views on the effectiveness of those organizations.

The report found that while there was overlap in the missions and membership of the emergency communications organizations, particularly amongst SAFECOM and PSAC, each had a specific focus and role. However, GAO said the organizations worked in a complementary manner to one another and that the duplicative nature of their responsibilities appeared to have positive effects.

According to the stakeholders interviewed by GAO, each organization was found to operate and collaborate effectively with one another. However, three stakeholders representing tribal, county, and municipal interests told GAO that their views were not fully represented within SAFECOM and PSAC.

The report stated that a leading collaboration practice was to ensure that all of the relevant participants have been included in a collaborative effort or mechanism and that five of the 11 stakeholders interviewed for the report did not identify it as an issue.

Without greater inclusion of tribal, county and municipal interests, the report said, there was a risk that their concerns were not being incorporated into the efforts of SAFECOM and PSAC to improve the interoperability of emergency communications.

In order to correct the issues identified in its report, GAO recommended that the DHS Secretary direct the OEC to examine the composition and function of SAFECOM to determine whether all relevant stakeholder groups were adequately represented and that their views were expressed and considered through memberships through all facets of the organization.

Additionally, GAO recommended that the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) examine the composition and function of PSAC to determine whether all relevant stakeholder groups were adequately represented through all facets of the organization.