FirstNet Crucial to Georgia’s Public Safety

Opting in would put advanced tools into the hands of Georgia’s public safety community, allowing it to be better prepared for any event, whether small or large.

By Ed Davis, former Police Commissioner

As more and more states announce their decision to opt in to the FirstNet network, I hope Georgia will join them, giving emergency responders access to the tools they need to effectively and efficiently help protect Georgians and visitors to the state.

FirstNet was born following the September 11th attacks, when the 9/11 Commission found that firefighters, policemen and EMS needed a single network to better communicate with each other. The gap in communications between different public safety departments and agencies has continued to hamstring response efforts to large natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, when the communications networks our first responders rely upon were impacted by storms and flooding.

After serving in public safety for more than 35 years, I know that clear, consistent communications play a critical role in our everyday emergency response efforts, especially when we must respond to widespread crises or manage large events. Without the ability to communicate, first responders cannot effectively do their jobs.

This opinion article was written by Ed Davis and appears in savannahnow.com dated Sept. 7, 2017.

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Ed Davis is a former police commissioner of the City of Boston. He also is a paid advisor to AT&T.