Police chiefs renew call for spectrum allocation

The Australian and New Zealand Police Commissioners’ Forum (ANZPCF) met in Sydney on 14 and 15 October.

The role of the ANZPCF is to enable police commissioners to gather twice a year to develop their strategic agenda, identify and progress improvements in the operation and practice of policing. Further, to create opportunities for cooperation and collaboration between all jurisdictions and other agencies, wherever possible and relevant.

This, the second meeting of 2013, focused on significant issues of concern to Australian and New Zealand policing services, one of which is access to spectrum for emergency services agencies.

All commissioners recommitted to the need for a minimum allocation of 20 MHz of radio spectrum in the 700 MHz band to ensure public safety through effective emergency services’ communications.

The commissioners agreed on the importance of continued collaboration on national and international issues in all states and territories in Australia and New Zealand.

The issue of mobile broadband spectrum allocation for emergency services agencies was discussed at the recent Radcomms 2013 conference in Sydney, where the CEO of the Police Federation of Australia, Mark Burgess, spoke strongly in favour of it. You can read the text of his presentation here.