-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   T-AIMD-99-163		

TITLE:     Year 2000 Computing Challenge: Status of Emergency 
and State and Local Law Enforcement Systems Is Still Unknown

DATE:   04/29/1999
				                                                                         
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    United States General Accounting Office GAO
    Testimony Before the Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology
    Problem, U.S. Senate For Release on Delivery Expected at
    YEAR 2000 COMPUTING 9:30 a.m. Thursday,                  CHALLENGE
    April 29, 1999 Status of Emergency and State and Local Law
    Enforcement Systems Is Still Unknown Statement of Jack L. Brock,
    Jr. Director, Governmentwide and Defense Information Systems
    Accounting and Information Management Division GAO/T-AIMD-99-163
    Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: Thank you for inviting
    me to discuss the impact of the Year 2000 computing challenge on
    the nation's emergency and state and local law enforcement systems
    and our review of the Department of Justice's and the President's
    Council on Year 2000 Conversion's efforts to facilitate
    remediation and contingency planning and to gauge the Year 2000
    readiness of these two important sectors. Briefly, we found the
    following. * Limited information is available about the Year 2000
    status of 9-1-1 call answering sites throughout the nation, known
    as Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP). The Federal Emergency
    Management Agency (FEMA) in conjunction with the National
    Emergency Number Association1 has surveyed 4,300 primary PSAPs on
    their Year 2000 readiness; however, as of April 1999, only 18
    percent responded. Of those that did respond, only 16 percent
    reported that their systems were compliant. However, the majority
    of the rest of the respondents reported that they will be
    compliant by 2000. * Little is known about the status of state and
    local law enforcement agencies. No assessment surveys have been
    conducted. Last week, the Chairman of the working group focusing
    on law enforcement for the President's Council on Year 2000
    Conversion informed us that such an assessment would soon be
    initiated in cooperation with a follow-on FEMA assessment of
    emergency services. * Outreach efforts by FEMA, the Federal
    Communications Commission (FCC), the National Emergency Number
    Association, and other organizations have been fairly extensive,
    ranging from the development of contingency planning guidance to
    the hosting of forums for the 9-1-1 community on meeting the Year
    2000 challenge. * Outreach efforts by Justice generally have been
    targeted at raising awareness and, with the exception of those at
    the Bureau of Prisons, largely ad hoc in nature. To prepare for
    this testimony, we reviewed the FCC's March 1999 report on Year
    2000 readiness in the communications sector, transcripts of the
    FCC's emergency services forum held in November 1998, and the
    April 1999 This is a trade association seeking to foster the
    technological advancement, availability, and implementation of a
    common emergency telephone number system. Page 1
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 Network Reliability and Interoperability Council
    (NRIC) 2 report on Public Safety Answering Positions. We reviewed
    test documentation prepared by Bellcore and the Telco Year 2000
    Forum to assess the scope of Year 2000 interoperability testing
    conducted on both the local public network in general, and on the
    continued ability of this network to successfully process 9-1-1
    calls for emergency services. Further, we reviewed information
    published on the Internet by manufacturers of computer systems
    supporting 9-1-1 sites as well as by FCC, NRIC, FEMA, the
    President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, the National
    Emergency Number Association, the International Association of
    Emergency Managers, the National Emergency Management Association,
    the National Association of Counties, the National Public Safety
    Telecommunications Council, the State of Minnesota, and the State
    of Texas. We also toured 9-1-1 sites located in Arlington County
    and Fairfax County, Virginia, and we interviewed members of the
    Telco Year 2000 Forum and staff at both FEMA's U.S. Fire
    Administration and the National Emergency Number Association. We
    also reviewed available outreach strategies and plans for the
    Department of Justice and its component bureaus and documentation
    on actual outreach activities that they have conducted. We
    discussed with department and bureau officials their respective
    approaches to managing outreach activities, including outreach
    goals. Additionally, we attended meetings of the Police/Law
    Enforcement/Criminal Justice working group, reviewed documents
    prepared by the working group, and conducted interviews with the
    Chairman of the group. We performed our work in March and April
    1999 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
    standards. Federal Efforts to        For the most part,
    responsibility for ensuring continuity of service for 9-1-1 Assess
    Continuity of      calls and law enforcement resides with
    thousands of state and local jurisdictions. Nevertheless, the
    success of these efforts is of great interest 9-1-1 and
    State/Local     at the national level as these services are
    critical to the safety and well- Law Enforcement           being
    of individuals across the country. Thus, the lack of status
    Services                  information has increased concern about
    which, if any, critical emergency communications and law
    enforcement systems may not be compliant in time. NRIC is a
    federal advisory committee that provides guidance to FCC on
    promoting the reliability of the public switched network. Page 2
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 The President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion
    was established in part to help provide leadership and work with
    state and local governments to address the Year 2000 computing
    challenge. Last April, we recommended that the Chairman of the
    Council develop a comprehensive picture of the nation's Year 2000
    readiness, which would include identifying and assessing the Year
    2000 risks within the nation's key economic sectors, including
    those posed by the failure of critical infrastructure components.
    3 By gathering basic information on Year 2000 status and impact on
    public well- being, the Council would be better prepared to advise
    any necessary action to mitigate risks. In October 1998, the
    Council tasked each of its working groups to complete sector
    assessments. These assessments were to be based on an assessment
    guide developed with input from GAO and were to be conducted in
    conjunction with related umbrella groups and trade associations.
    The Council's Emergency Services working group, which is chaired
    by FEMA, was responsible for conducting the assessment of
    emergency services, including 9-1-1 services. Because of the
    reliance of 9-1-1 services on the public switched network, this
    particular assessment was also dependent on results of the
    assessment conducted by the Telecommunications working group,
    chaired by FCC. The Council's Police/Public Safety/Law
    Enforcement/Criminal Justice working group, chaired by the
    Department of Justice, was responsible for conducting the
    assessment of state and local law enforcement agencies. The first
    report summarizing the results of the Council's assessments was
    issued on January 7, 1999. The Council's second assessment report
    was issued on April 21, 1999. After the first report was issued,
    we testified 4 that while the study was a good step toward
    obtaining a picture of the nation's Year 2000 readiness, the
    picture remained substantially incomplete because assessments were
    not available in many key areas, including 9-1-1 and fire
    services. Also, some surveys did not have a high response rate,
    calling into question whether they accurately portrayed the
    readiness of the sector. We stated that the Council needed to
    remain vigilant and closely monitor and update the information in
    the sectors where information is available and obtain information
    for those where it was not. !Year 2000 Computing Crisis: Potential
    for Widespread Disruption Calls for Strong Leadership and
    Partnerships (GAO/AIMD-98-85, April 30, 1998). "Year 2000
    Computing Crisis: Readiness Improving, But Much Work Remains to
    Avoid Major Disruptions (GAO/T-AIMD-99-50, January 20, 1999). Page
    3
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 9-1-1 Services              9-1-1 is the
    standard telephone number most Americans dial to quickly Year 2000
    Readiness         obtain assistance from police, fire, or
    emergency medical service providers. When dialing 9-1-1, callers
    depend on the country's telecommunications infrastructure, a high
    degree of automation, and emergency dispatchers to ensure that
    emergency personnel can be reached when needed. If Year 2000
    issues are not adequately addressed, the response to an emergency
    could be degraded. Fortunately, a number of positive outreach
    efforts have been undertaken to assist local governments as well
    as telecommunications providers in preparing for the Year 2000.
    Unfortunately, with less than 9 months remaining before the
    millennium, the status of thousands of 9-1-1 answering sites is
    still largely unknown. 9-1-1 and the Year 2000     According to
    the FCC, about 90 percent of the population has access to Problem
    9-1-1 service and uses it to place most of the nearly 110 million
    emergency calls made in the United States each year. The remainder
    of the population, without access to 9-1-1 service, dials an
    ordinary seven-digit telephone number to contact emergency service
    providers. The National Emergency Number Association estimates
    that there are approximately 4,400 primary PSAPs operating
    nationwide. These PSAPs, in turn, may have one or more associated
    secondary PSAPs. For example, the city of Falls Church, Virginia,
    operates a PSAP that is secondary to Arlington County's primary
    PSAP. 9-1-1 calls originating in Falls Church would be delivered
    to the primary PSAP in Arlington County. Following initial
    processing, that call would be forwarded for dispatch to the
    secondary PSAP operated by Falls Church. The 9-1-1 system is a
    multistep process that can vary from one PSAP to the next.
    However, 9-1-1 calls are initiated over the public switched
    network and most calls are made using "enhanced" 9-1-1 service--
    that is, service that uses automation to provide dispatchers with
    the address and telephone number associated with the caller. The
    following figure depicts a typical 9-1-1 call. Page 4
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 Figure 1:  Enhanced 9-1-1 Calling Process E911
    Tandem Switch at telephone office Public Safety Answering Points
    PSAP Common Equipment PBX                      Voice System
    Call Phone                     Phone Number
    Number Controller                  Display Telephone Company
    Call Taker Location Database
    Address                  Address Controller
    Display Source:  Network Reliability and Interoperability Council.
    As the figure illustrates, the telecommunications component of the
    9-1-1 system includes the public switched network, the local
    telephone office, and one or more PSAPs. A computer system at the
    local telephone office-- called the E911 tandem switch--
    automatically routes incoming calls to the proper PSAP. At the
    PSAP, the call is recorded and information, such as the caller's
    location and directions on how to get there, is retrieved from a
    Page 5
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 database normally provided by a local telephone
    company called the automatic location identification (ALI)
    database. Other equipment common to PSAPs are telephones,
    answering equipment, and personal computers. The systems used by
    PSAPs and supporting telecommunications networks have processes
    such as day/time logging, call recording, computer aided dispatch,
    and records management systems that could be disabled by a Year
    2000 failure. Should Year 2000 disruptions impair either these
    date- sensitive components of PSAP call-handling or other
    communications and database services provided by the public
    network, the following could occur. * If the automatic number
    identification (ANI) database computers fail, 9-1-1 calls would
    not be selectively routed to a PSAP for processing, unless a
    default was established to route any call without ANI data to a
    specific PSAP. Depending on the service area, the loss of a 9-1-1
    tandem switch could affect more than one million access lines. *
    Also, if the automatic location identification database computers
    fail, the 9-1-1 attendant would get a voice path but not receive
    location data from the ALI database. The operator would then have
    to get location data from the 9-1-1 caller (which is routinely
    done with calls originating on wireless telephones) who may be
    confused or anxious. * If the automatic call distributor fails,
    incoming calls would not automatically be delivered to available
    call takers. * If a computer telephony integrated system (where
    the telephone has been totally replaced by computer) fails, the 9-
    1-1 attendant would lose all functionality and no calls would be
    received. Another Year 2000-related problem is potential
    congestion in the public switched network arising from individuals
    making 9-1-1 calls to simply test the system. According to the
    Network Reliability and Interoperability Council, an increase in
    9-1-1 traffic could result in callers getting circuit busy
    signals, put on hold for long periods, or disconnected. Limited
    Information Is       Successfully completing a 9-1-1 call next
    January 1--and taking full Available Concerning the     advantage
    of all the features of enhanced 9-1-1 service--is dependent on two
    Status of Year 2000          major factors. First, the ability of
    the public switched telecommunications Readiness for 9-1-1
    network to transmit the call and, second, the ability of the PSAP
    to process the call. Page 6
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 With respect to the public switched network, the
    Telco Year 2000 Forum on Intra-Network Interoperability Testing,
    which is made up of local exchange carriers representing 90
    percent of all access lines in the nation, recently conducted
    tests to determine whether the public switched network could carry
    calls in a Year 2000 environment. The tests were performed on 54
    different configurations of central office equipment that included
    a majority of the network components used in North America. Only
    six Year 2000 problems were identified by the Telco Year 2000
    Forum in over 1,900 test cases on these configurations, which
    involved 80 products from 20 different vendors. Assuming these
    tests were carried out effectively, their results provide some
    confidence that, if remediated, the public switched network should
    continue to function into the new millenium with no major service
    interruptions caused by Year 2000 dates. However, these tests did
    not focus specifically on 9-1-1 services and, as such, they did
    not test numerous "back end" systems that a PSAP might use, such
    as computer- aided dispatch systems, call logging systems, call
    recorders, and radios. PSAP operators are responsible for ensuring
    that these systems operate and interoperate properly after the
    date change. The status of the ability of PSAP efforts to ensure
    that they can effectively process 9-1-1 calls is less clear. The
    Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC) reports
    that major local telephone companies have taken action to ensure
    that PSAP systems they provide to their customers have been
    remediated. However, as of April 16, 1999, only 18 percent of
    4,300 PSAPs had responded to a readiness survey conducted by FEMA
    and the National Emergency Number Association. Of the 766 sites
    that did respond, only 16 percent reported that they were ready
    for the Year 2000. Another 70 percent of those responding reported
    that they will be Year 2000 compliant in time for the millennium.
    Because of the low response rate, FEMA is planning to conduct
    telephone interviews with those sites that did not respond to the
    initial survey. NRIC developed its own assessment of PSAP Year
    2000 readiness. NRIC estimated that at present, fewer than 10
    percent of the nation's PSAPs have completed upgrades of the 9-1-1
    call processing equipment. However, according to NRIC, many
    upgrades have been scheduled and should be completed within the
    second and third quarters of this year. NRIC's evaluation did not
    address the Year 2000 readiness of any of the other equipment
    employed within the PSAPs that support call processing or
    personnel dispatch. The proper functioning of that equipment is
    the responsibility of PSAP managers. Page 7
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 Positive Outreach Efforts to  To help ensure
    that emergency services will be accessible after the century
    Ensure 9-1-1 Year 2000              date change, many
    organizations are engaged in outreach activities to state
    Readiness Are Underway              and local governments and even
    the telecommunications providers that support networks critical to
    9-1-1 calls. For example: * In December 1998, FEMA included an
    informational Year 2000 brochure with a survey that was sent to
    primary answering points. It also developed Year 2000 contingency
    and consequence management planning guidance that specifically
    identifies 9-1-1 systems as being at risk because of the Year 2000
    problem. This guidance was made available to state and local
    government emergency managers through a series of Year 2000
    workshops held throughout the country. The guidance was also
    presented in a multistate teleconference of state Year 2000
    coordinators. * The National Emergency Number Association is
    working to modify its technical standards, which cover a number of
    issues related to 9-1-1, to include Year 2000 compliance
    statements. The association is also advising its approximately
    6,000 members to check their mission-critical computers and
    equipment for Year 2000 readiness. * The National Association of
    Counties has been working with the National League of Cities, the
    International City/County Management Association, and Public
    Technology, Inc., to address the Year 2000 challenge and its
    potential to affect services provided by local governments.
    Together, these organizations have developed and distributed over
    20,000 copies of a Year 2000 information kit and have sponsored a
    nationwide Year 2000 satellite broadcast for local government
    officials and employees. * On November 16, FCC hosted a forum--
    attended by federal, state, and county government officials,
    telecommunications providers, and equipment manufacturers--on
    maintaining emergency response communications and potential Year
    2000 issues. Topics discussed included potential Year 2000 threats
    to the system, strategies for averting those threats, and the need
    to convey the importance of the Year 2000 challenge to other
    emergency response organizations. * The Association of Public-
    Safety Communications Officials International Inc., is planning to
    hold a Year 2000 symposium on May 20 and May 21 aimed at agency
    and company preparedness planning. Speakers will include officials
    from FCC, the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, and
    other federal government agencies, major utility companies, public
    safety communications center directors, volunteer associations,
    and communications manufacturers and consultants. Page 8
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 State and Local Law              Over 17,000
    state and local law enforcement entities provide services to
    Enforcement Year 2000  protect the American public. These entities
    vary greatly in terms of specific services provided, geographic
    coverage, and use of computer and Readiness
    communication tools. Management information systems, computer-
    aided dispatch systems, and radio communications are typically
    used throughout the law enforcement community. All need to be
    thoroughly checked to determine their Year 2000 vulnerability and
    then fixed, if necessary. Little Is Known About Year  The working
    group for Police/Public Safety/Law Enforcement/Criminal 2000
    Status for State and        Justice has not done an assessment of
    state and local law enforcement Local Law Enforcement
    agencies. Rather, its focus has been on increasing awareness
    through Entities                         speeches, participation
    in conferences, and other similar activities. In the President's
    Conversion Council's first report this past January, the working
    group reported: "Based on informal assessment information, there
    is a high level of awareness of the problem among non-Federal
    police/law enforcement entities. State police/law enforcement
    entities and departments in larger metropolitan areas are making
    good progress. However, most departments at the county and
    municipality level lack the sophistication to assess the Y2K
    readiness of their service providers. These departments do not
    have their own, dedicated IT resources--money and professional
    staffing--and are instead dependent on the IT departments of the
    county, city, or municipality of which they are a part. Dedicated
    radio communications and dispatch systems are a concern for all
    police/law enforcement organizations and the working group is
    encouraging departments to focus on contingency planning in this
    area."5 The working group made no report in the second national
    assessment summary issued earlier this month. Late last week,
    following our inquiries, the working group decided to develop an
    assessment of state/local law enforcement entities in conjunction
    with FEMA's efforts to develop more information on emergency
    services. The working group plans to conduct the survey by
    telephone to increase the response rate and to complete the survey
    by the time of the next sector summary report, which is expected
    in July. #The President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion: First
    Quarterly Summary of Assessment Information (January 7, 1999).
    Page 9
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 Justice Outreach Efforts Are  According to the
    Justice Chief Information Officer (CIO), the three Limited
    department components with primary responsibility for outreach to
    state and local agencies are the Federal Bureau of Investigation
    (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Bureau of
    Prisons (BOP). With the exception of BOP, neither the department
    nor its component bureaus have formal outreach programs with
    stated goals and defined strategies for actively reaching out to
    counterparts in state and local and international governments. In
    lieu of formal programs, the department and its bureaus are
    conducting largely ad hoc activities aimed at increasing Year 2000
    awareness. Bureau of Prisons                  In January, we
    recommended that the Bureau of Prisons proactively identify
    organizations needing assistance and share their experiences and
    lessons learned in remediating and preparing for Year 2000
    problems. 6 The bureau agreed and has established a proactive
    outreach program. For example: * BOP established a formal outreach
    program with stated goals and defined strategies for reaching out
    to its counterparts in the state and local correctional community.
    BOP's plan called for this work to be conducted through
    professional associations, with the aim of delivering relevant
    information to corrections officials and providing direct
    assistance where needed. In addition, BOP plans to evaluate the
    effectiveness of its outreach activities, for example, by
    monitoring access to the BOP and National Institute of Corrections
    (NIC) Internet sites to assess the effectiveness of this mechanism
    in reaching its targeted audience. * On March 1, 1999, BOP sent a
    letter to all members of NIC informing corrections officials about
    possible Year 2000 problems beyond those related to computer
    software and hardware. It mentioned such matters as embedded
    microchips in equipment like metal detectors, X-ray machines, and
    elevators, and encouraged officials to look into the compliance of
    such equipment. The letter informed recipients about the BOP and
    NIC Internet sites and provided the addresses to reach them. It
    also provided phone numbers to call if the recipients needed
    further assistance. BOP plans two more follow-up mailings
    throughout the year $Year 2000 Computing Crisis: Status of Bureau
    of Prisons' Year 2000 Efforts (GAO/AIMD-99-23, January 27, 1999).
    Page 10
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 that will provide updated information, as
    appropriate, to state and local correction officials. * Also, BOP
    plans to make a limited number of follow-up phone calls to
    recipients of the letter. The calls will be used to assess the
    usefulness of the initial mailing and, depending on the findings,
    to modify future mailings to better meet needs of the state and
    local facilities. Second, the calls will determine whether state
    and local facilities need assistance in their remediation. BOP
    officials admit that they have limited ability to provide direct
    assistance, but they believe they can share lessons learned during
    the course of their own remediation work. Other Justice Outreach
    Efforts    The following are descriptions of other outreach
    efforts being carried out by the Department of Justice. * On
    December 11, 1998, the CIO chaired a Year 2000 outreach session
    with the Government Advisory Group for the Global Criminal Justice
    Information Network. Members of the Advisory Group include the
    American Correctional Association, the International Association
    of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs Association, and the
    National Association of Attorney Generals, among others. The FBI
    made three presentations at the outreach session concerning the
    compliance of its key systems and forensic laboratories. * On
    January 25, 1999, the Attorney General sent a letter to the
    presidents of seven law enforcement/criminal justice associations
    intended for publication in association newsletters. The letter
    discussed potential Year 2000 problems associated with law
    enforcement and the formation of the President's Council on Year
    2000 Conversion. It also provided the address of the Council's
    Internet site and encouraged state and local law enforcement
    agencies to take a hard look at their buildings, computers, and
    other devices that could be susceptible to the Year 2000 problem.
* The FBI has engaged in a number of activities to educate state
    and local law enforcement officials about the status of the FBI's
    mission-critical systems. FBI officials have spoken at law
    enforcement conferences about their Year 2000 program primarily to
    discuss the status of key systems, such as the National Crime
    Information Center system, and to provide assurance that these
    systems will be unaffected by Year 2000 problems. The FBI has also
    recently published an article in several law enforcement
    publications7 discussing the experiences the FBI had with %Law
    Enforcement News, September 30, 1998; Law Enforcement Technology,
    August 1998; and The Police Chief , March 1999. Page 11
    GAO/T-AIMD-99-163 its system remediation and encouraging state and
    local law enforcement groups to institute their own Year 2000
    programs. The FBI is also using the Criminal Justice Information
    System Advisory Board, run by state representatives, to
    communicate Year 2000 information to state and local users of FBI
    systems. * The Office of Justice Programs is working to build
    awareness through two forums. First, in July 1998, it distributed
    a notice to all grant recipients that all new equipment purchased
    with grant money is required to be Year 2000 compliant. The notice
    provided an Internet address and a phone number where recipients
    could obtain Year 2000 information. Second, at regional financial
    management training seminars held throughout the country, the
    office has been working to build Year 2000 awareness by discussing
    some basic information about the problem. * DEA has stated that
    the focus of its outreach efforts is making sure that its system
    interfaces with state and local and other counterparts are fully
    compliant. DEA is also working with state and local law
    enforcement in field offices where DEA shares facilities with
    local or state counterparts. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, not
    enough is known about the status of either the 9-1-1 system or of
    state and local law enforcement activities to conclude about
    either's ability during the transition to the Year 2000 to meet
    the public safety and well-being needs of local communities across
    the nation. The Emergency Services and Telecommunications working
    groups have been active in this area and plan to follow up on
    their initial surveys. The Police/Public Safety/Law
    Enforcement/Criminal Justice working group has further to go to
    develop a more defined assessment but is moving forward. However,
    more needs to be done than simply determining the status of these
    two critical sectors. More specifically, these sectors, under the
    leadership of the Council, should use the information made
    available through the working group assessments to identify
    specific risks and develop appropriate strategies and contingency
    plans to respond to those risks. Mr. Chairman, that concludes my
    statement. I would be happy to respond to any questions you or the
    Committee members have. #   #!     Letter    Page 12
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