Burbank, Glendale seek link

BURBANK — The future of a multi-agency response system in Burbank and Glendale is safe, even as Los Angeles County is pursuing a countywide network of its own.

Conflict arose earlier this year as it became apparent that Burbank, Glendale and four other cities participating in the Interagency Communications Interoperability System, known as ICIS — which allows public safety departments to communicate across jurisdictional lines — were competing against the county for federal funding.

While county officials are seeking money for a planned network — called the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System — local system participants are also vying for federal help to finance maintenance and upgrades for an infrastructure that has been in place since 2003. That bred uncertainty among legislators in Washington, D.C., as competing requests came in from county and local officials pursuing similar technologies with similar goals in the same area.

But last week, a contingent of local system participants traveled to the capital with Los Angeles County Fire Chief Paul Michael Freeman to better define the city and county's shared perspective.

The joint trip sent a constructive, positive message that the two agencies are working together, said Glendale Fire Department Battalion Chief Don Wright, executive director of the local system.

"I really felt that because we had Chief Freeman with us, that we were able to show, No. 1, the hard work we've done in the past, and No. 2 … we are carrying the message that we intend to be part of a much larger regional network — we are not looking to be empire builders of the ICIS radio system," Wright said. "And I think that's been the common misconception for a while."

And the delegation's trip to Washington, D.C., gave city and county officials the opportunity to become acquainted with their counterparts, Freeman said.

"I felt that the trip was very positive," he said. "And I thought it was timely because it certainly was a personification of the cooperative efforts that are being undertaken here locally."

The common ground that local and county officials have reached means that municipalities can continue to use their local system and bring other agencies aboard, while also supporting the county's efforts to create a regional system, said Burbank Mayor Marsha Ramos, who was a member of the contingent that traveled to the capital.