The development and coordination of a statewide solution to emergency radio interoperability is enormously complex. It requires the goodwill and active cooperation of local, county, tribal, state and federal units of government. It must satisfy the technical requirements and meet the operational needs of a variety of first responders, including law enforcement, fire, EMS and emergency management. And it must be flexible - yet standardized - to address unique local and regional conditions while ensuring that seamless integration of systems statewide is the final result.
Wisconsin statute places responsibility for devising solutions to public safety radio communication gaps with the Wisconsin Interoperability Council and the Office of Justice Assistance. While these entities bare statutory responsibility for project oversight, the successful implementation of a statewide solution will largely depend on the actions and support of local elected officials; state, county, local and tribal public safety/emergency response agencies as well as private-sector responders such as emergency medical providers and ambulance services.
To this end, the Council has adopted the Statewide Communication Interoperability Plan (SCIP) to provide a shared strategic vision and implementation roadmap. It has also embraced a shared governance approach to encourage widespread support for achieving statewide interoperability by identifying and addressing the concerns, perspectives and any unique circumstances of the jurisdictions and organizations that will benefit most from interoperability. The multi-disciplinary sub-committees included in the chart below have been established to develop policies and procedures and coordinate SCIP implementation activities:
Wisconsin's Interoperability Initiative: Shared Governance
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