Sarasota News Leader

04/19/2013

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Sarasota News Leader April 19, 2013 Page 47 One subcommittee, Tobias added, is working on policies, procedures and the scope of the systems, while another is focusing on the technology itself. Miranda is heading up that second group, Tobias noted. "This is a mission critical radio network," Miranda told the boards, "and we need to keep it as reliable as possible." When Robinson pressed him regarding articles she had read about hacking into the P25 systems and encryption issues, Miranda told her that hacking problems did arise with the earliest P25 equipment. However, he pointed out, no Compliance Assessment Program (CAP) was in place nationally to ensure all the P25 systems could communicate with each other. In the early stages, he said, manufacturSarasota County Fire Chief Mike Tobias aders were trying to create their own niches in dresses the two boards. Photo by Norman the market, resulting in a number of problems. Schimmel "That's wiped away with the CAP program," portant term here. … If you under-build, you he pointed out. will have problems." As for encryption concerns: "The [U.S.] DeSarasota County is working with Manatee partment of Homeland Security has issued County on implementing a regional P25 sys- guidelines specifically to address [that]," Mitem. "We need to build it the right way the first randa added. "It's a matter of using [the techtime," Miranda continued. "We cannot spend nology] properly …" more money by putting patches here, putting Robinson said she was concerned that none of patches there." the staff making the presentation to the SaraThe cost of the new system for Sarasota Coun- sota County Commission last week had done ty will be about $18.5 million, Miranda told research similar to what she had pursued. "I'm the boards; for Manatee, it will be about $15 surprised that both of these teams didn't have million. any of that before we stepped into this," she said. Sarasota County Fire Chief and Emergency Services Director Mike Tobias explained at However, Bill Hutchison, the former Manatee the outset of the presentation on April 16 that County public safety director who is workall the stakeholders in the two counties are ing as a private consultant to that county, exmeeting every two weeks "and making sure plained that Miranda was supposed to have everybody has a chance to be heard." been present for the Sarasota County discus-

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