Might be interesting: DHS' Multi-Band Radio Project

From Government Technology, by way of the Homeland Security Newsletter:

Pilot Organizations Announced for DHS' Multi-Band Radio Project
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Jul 7, 2009, By Elaine Rundle

On July 2, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate announced the organizations that will participate in the pilot phase of the Multi-Band Radio Project. The project's goal is to address the challenges of interoperability and produce a radio that enables emergency responders to communicate regardless of the radio band they operate on. In 2008, the directorate awarded Thales Communication Inc. a $6.2 million contract to demonstrate a portable multiband radio.

"The fundamental issue in interoperability is the inability of agencies from different jurisdictions arriving on scene at a major emergency to communicate with each other," said David Boyd, director of the DHS' Science and Technology Directorate's Command, Control and Interoperability Division. "Most of the resources that arrive in any emergency, especially initially, are local and then the next level at state and then typically the federal government comes in after that. Our challenge is to allow all of them to communicate with each other seamlessly."

Part of the reason I say this might be interesting, is that the first organization listed is the 2010 Olympic Security Committee, of Blaine Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Another part (Geekery Alert!) is that I was under the impression that everyone was going with Motorola P25 radios, but this says the contract was awarded to Thales.

Part of the reason that so many more New York firefighters died on 9/11/2001 than New York Police officers, was that the NYPD had radios that were better suited for the conditions, and the cops heard the warnings to "Get Out NOW!" but the firefighters did not. (Some would have stayed to continue rescue attempts, but they could have saved more if they had had better comms!)