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NEW POLICE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY V CORPS IS BAGHDAD'S 911

V Corps Release

Release Date: 10/14/2003

By Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- With newly trained, freshly equipped Iraqi police, firefighting and ambulance services now operating here, Iraq has taken huge steps toward stability.

As part of the modernization of this area of Iraq, U.S. military police soldiers under the command of V Corps's 18th Military Police Brigade have begun to implement a new telecommunications system that will allow emergency services to communicate with each other and their U.S. Army counterparts.

The system will also provide emergency services with the information necessary to respond to emergencies quickly and effectively.

"The new system is the '104 system.' Iraqi citizens that have a phone will soon be able to call 104 and report emergencies," said Capt. Robert Cosgrove, the 18th's liaison officer.

The new system, said Cosgrove, will address one of the most pressing needs of Baghdad citizens. Following combat operations here, much of the city's vital infrastructure was abandoned or sabotaged, and many services considered essential in other parts of the world were available only to certain segments of the population here. The Army has focused its efforts on the welfare of the Iraqi people, and establishing a communications program for emergency response services is a significant step forward, said Cosgrove. The system the MPs are now putting in place is a further extension of a modernization of the Iraqi police communications that included issuing Iraqi officers state-of-the-art radios earlier this year. (To read a story about that program, click here.)

"The system being put in place now will eventually lead to integration between fire, police, and hospital ambulance services' communications," Cosgrove said. "The final system should be completed in two years."

Motorola Communications is providing the equipment required for the large-scale project. The system will follow a template that is familiar to anyone who has worked with emergency response systems in the U.S.

"We are attempting to model the way we operate emergency police systems upon the way things work back in the States, while respecting cultural differences," said Cosgrove. "Some things are done differently over here, and we want to be sensitive to those areas."

Iraqis involved with civil services here will also play a vital role in the revamping of the emergency response infrastructure.

"Every police manager will have a mobile radio and can carry it wherever he goes," said 1st Lt. Jassim Mohammed, manager of public relations at the Duara Police station. "If an emergency arises and the IPS need support from the coalition forces MPs, they may use the device for calling the officer on duty."

"The bottom line is it is the Iraqis' system," Cosgrove said. "We are just here to provide help and make suggestions."

The MPs do not expect the new system to be an instant success, but they plan to make Iraqis aware of the system and how to use it.

"It is going to take some time to catch on and for us to promote it," said Cosgrove. "Working phone lines are important to the system, so we are taking it one step forward at a time."

But even with poor phone services here, Cosgrove said Iraqi police will be able to use the new system to provide emergency services more effectively than what has been available over the past several months.

"In case the ordinary citizen does not have telephone service, he can inform the police directly through the (Iraqi police) officers doing foot patrols in the communities," said Mohammed. "Through them, police sentries can be informed by radio about the emergency."