There are circumstances when it is beneficial to members of this Department to have radio inter-operability with other law enforcement and government agencies. The Department's radio frequencies are, however, a finite resource and only in those instances where inter-operability with other agencies is clearly in the Department's interest shall authorization to operate on Department frequencies be granted. In those circumstances, and when such an entity requests authorization to operate on Department radio frequencies, the following procedure shall apply:
- When any Department Unit receives a request to operate on Department radio frequencies, the Unit Commander shall evaluate the request and, if he concurs, forward it to CFMB with a memorandum stating the Unit Commander's basis for concurrence. All requests from other government entities must be in writing and identify the reason for which operation on Department frequencies is necessary;
- The CFMB Unit Commander shall evaluate the request, prepare a memorandum with his findings and forward it, along with the original request and the memorandum from the Unit Commander who concurred with the request, to the Chief of TSD;
- The Chief of TSD shall review and forward the request to the Division Chief or Division Director whose Unit(s) will share the use of the frequencies with the requesting agency for evaluation. The completed evaluation shall be returned to the CFMB through the Chief of TSD;
NOTE: Requests which involve inter-operability with multiple Department Units on multiple frequencies shall not be reviewed at the Unit Commander level. All such requests shall be forwarded by the Chief of TSD to the appropriate Division Chief(s) or Division Director. The completed evaluation shall be returned to the CFMB through the Chief of TSD.
- The CFMB shall be responsible for notifying the requesting agency in writing of the Department's findings. A frequency-sharing agreement, which is required by the Federal Communication Commission, shall be prepared by CFMB for those requests which are approved. Approved requests shall be valid for a period not more than one year, with reevaluation occurring annually in June.
- The frequency-sharing agreement, which identifies the specific terms and conditions of use, shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
- Number of radios authorized
- Whether radios are mobile or portable;
- Which frequencies are to be used; and
- Call signs of the requesting agency;
- An automatic identification feature, compatible with the Department's communication system, for all radios; and
- Frequency-sharing agreements shall be maintained on file at the CFMB.