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| Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System | |
|---|---|
| Name | Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System |
| Abbreviation | LARICS |
| Location | Los Angeles County, California, California |
| Established | 2010s |
| Type | Public safety communications network |
| Status | Proposed / contested |
Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System. The project was proposed as a regional public safety radio network intended to connect Los Angeles County, California, City of Los Angeles, California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, and other jurisdictions for interoperable voice and data across the Los Angeles Basin, San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, and Antelope Valley. The proposal intersected with priorities of Federal Communications Commission, Department of Homeland Security (United States), Federal Emergency Management Agency, and state agencies including California Governor's Office of Emergency Services and California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
LARICS was envisioned as a multi-agency trunked radio and broadband backbone to improve coordination among entities such as Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department, Port of Los Angeles Police Department, and Los Angeles World Airports operations, while interfacing with networks like FirstNet and regional systems operated by Orange County Fire Authority and San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The initiative was promoted in conjunction with elected officials including the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Mayor of Los Angeles, and state legislators representing districts in Southern California. Stakeholders referenced interoperability programs from New York City Office of Emergency Management, Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications, and Department of Defense-grade communications doctrine.
Origins trace to post-9/11 interoperability reviews that influenced reports by 9/11 Commission, Commission on Fire Accreditation International, and regional task forces convened after events such as 2007 Southern California wildfires and the 2015 San Gabriel Valley wildfires. Early planning engaged contractors and vendors known in the industry including Motorola Solutions, Harris Corporation, Thales Group, and system integrators used on projects for Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York City), Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Funding discussions invoked local bonds, state grants administered by California State Transportation Agency, and federal grants from U.S. Department of Homeland Security initiatives such as Urban Areas Security Initiative and Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
Governance proposals suggested interagency bodies modeled on structures like the Northern California Regional Interoperability Project, overseen by boards including representatives from Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Los Angeles City Council, California State Legislature, and tribal authorities such as the Gabrielino-Tongva community when tribal lands were implicated. Operational leadership aimed to coordinate with chiefs from Los Angeles County Fire Department, sheriffs from Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, police commissioners such as those in New York City Police Department reforms, and executive staff in agencies like Los Angeles Unified School District. Legal oversight referenced precedents from cases involving California Public Utilities Commission and procurement rules applied in Los Angeles County Department of Public Works contracts.
Proposed architecture combined P25 digital trunking, LTE broadband, microwave backhaul, and fiber-optic rings similar to deployments by Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York City), with equipment racks from vendors such as Motorola Solutions and spectrum planning referencing allocations administered by the Federal Communications Commission. Backbone design considered tower sites at landmarks like Mount Wilson, Mount San Antonio (Mount Baldy), Castaic, and Palos Verdes Peninsula to achieve line-of-sight coverage, and interoperability gateways compatible with FirstNet and legacy systems used by Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol. Cybersecurity and resilience planning invoked standards from National Institute of Standards and Technology, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and continuity models used by Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Operational concepts described shared talk groups, mutual aid channels, priority preemption, and roaming across jurisdictions including the Los Angeles Harbor, Los Angeles International Airport, and critical infrastructure like DWP (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power) facilities. Coverage models attempted to serve dense urban corridors such as Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and sprawling suburbs in Antelope Valley and San Gabriel Valley, while integrating maritime communications for the Port of Los Angeles and aviation coordination with Los Angeles International Airport tower operations. Exercises envisaged coordination with California National Guard, Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency, and federal partners including Transportation Security Administration.
Training curricula were planned to follow practices from National Fire Protection Association standards, Federal Communications Commission licensing procedures, and interagency exercises modeled on City of Los Angeles multi-agency drills and Tabletop exercise methodologies used by Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security (United States). User agencies spanned municipal police departments like Long Beach Police Department, fire districts such as Los Angeles County Fire Department, transit agencies including Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and utilities like the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The project encountered disputes over site selection near communities including Castaic, San Fernando Valley, and Palos Verdes Peninsula, leading to litigation invoking California Environmental Quality Act and oversight by Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and protests referencing environmental groups active with cases involving Sierra Club and local neighborhood councils. Fiscal concerns compared cost estimates against other regional programs in Orange County and San Bernardino County, and procurement controversies involved vendor selection practices similar to disputes that affected City of New York and Cook County, Illinois projects. Technical challenges included spectrum coordination with Federal Communications Commission, radio propagation issues in the Santa Monica Mountains, and integration complexities observed in projects such as FirstNet rollouts.
Category:Public safety communications in California