Dispatch of Federal Goverment

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signal500

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It depends on the agency. Some have 'mega centers' that take care of dispatching for the whole country, others have 'regional centers' that handles certain parts of the country. Some agencies have 'local dispatch centers' much like our local public safety agencies.

MegaCenters | Homeland Security

Milcom Monitoring Post: Region Dispatch Center Coverage to Expand to 13 Installations

The Fed Files Blog: Search results for regional dispatch centers

Thank you. So like the FBI for IL. Like Chicago and Springfield there are dispatches in Springfield and Chicago but not here in Peoria,IL.
 

signal500

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Dispatch of Federal Government

Thank you. So like the FBI for IL. Like Chicago and Springfield there are dispatches in Springfield and Chicago but not here in Peoria,IL.

Local field offices have small radio consoles that are usually operated by the administrative assistants. They can run license checks, but usually that is done over the cell phone. There are 'regional centers' that handle license checks / NCIC (National Crime Information Center) inquires which are located in larger cities such as Chicago / Kansas City / Miami, etc.

I would say that Springfield and Peoria field offices have 'local control' consoles for the areas, but the agents have the ability to talk to the 'regional center' in Chicago if needed.

The best way to find Federal frequencies is to search from 136-144 MHz, 148-150.775 MHz, 162-174 MHz, 380-400 MHz(Department of Defense) and 406-420 MHz in 12.5 KHz steps.

Remember that most federal agencies don't use the radio like our local public safety agencies. There are times when I don't hear much at all for days, and then all the sudden there is non-stop radio traffic for hours. It depends on the operation and what the agency radio needs are.

My best advice is, to keep a scanner searching 24/7. I still continue to find new frequencies. Remember not to post on any active operations you hear. (per RR guidelines)
 
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Local field offices have small radio consoles that are usually operated by the administrative assistants. They can run license checks, but usually that is done over the cell phone. There are 'regional centers' that handle license checks / NCIC (National Crime Information Center) inquires which are located in larger cities such as Chicago / Kansas City / Miami, etc.

I would say that Springfield and Peoria field offices have 'local control' consoles for the areas, but the agents have the ability to talk to the 'regional center' in Chicago if needed.

The best way to find Federal frequencies is to search from 136-144 MHz, 148-150.775 MHz, 162-174 MHz, 380-400 MHz(Department of Defense) and 406-420 MHz in 12.5 KHz steps.

Remember that most federal agencies don't use the radio like our local public safety agencies. There are times when I don't hear much at all for days, and then all the sudden there is non-stop radio traffic for hours. It depends on the operation and what the agency radio needs are.

My best advice is, to keep a scanner searching 24/7. I still continue to find new frequencies. Remember not to post on any active operations you hear. (per RR guidelines)

Cool thank you for all the info. I was wondering how they do all of that. I will be listening for new freqs. And I will not post when it is happening such as operations or such.
 
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Local field offices have small radio consoles that are usually operated by the administrative assistants. They can run license checks, but usually that is done over the cell phone. There are 'regional centers' that handle license checks / NCIC (National Crime Information Center) inquires which are located in larger cities such as Chicago / Kansas City / Miami, etc.

I would say that Springfield and Peoria field offices have 'local control' consoles for the areas, but the agents have the ability to talk to the 'regional center' in Chicago if needed.

The best way to find Federal frequencies is to search from 136-144 MHz, 148-150.775 MHz, 162-174 MHz, 380-400 MHz(Department of Defense) and 406-420 MHz in 12.5 KHz steps.

Remember that most federal agencies don't use the radio like our local public safety agencies. There are times when I don't hear much at all for days, and then all the sudden there is non-stop radio traffic for hours. It depends on the operation and what the agency radio needs are.

My best advice is, to keep a scanner searching 24/7. I still continue to find new frequencies. Remember not to post on any active operations you hear. (per RR guidelines)

Do they normally speak more during the week rather than the weekend?
 

KC2zZe

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This all depends on the nature of the operation you are trying to listen to. If an airport that is covered by the TSA is open, then you may catch TSA radio traffic on any day of the week. On one hand, with most banks being closed on weekends, FRB activity diminishes on weekends; on the other hand - with more people visiting their facilities for weekend getaways, NPS activity rises during weekends. Secret Service operations are dependent on the protectee's schedule. BoP operations are 24/7 but USMS ops slow down when the courts are closed on federal holidays. As I said, it all depends on who you are trying to monitor and what they do for a living.
 

mancow

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Do they normally speak more during the week rather than the weekend?

Yes. The best time to catch clear traffic seems to be early AM like 6-7 AM.

1 Because they are bored and talk to their buddies while commuting

2 Because then they can go home at 3-4 PM.

Remember, solve no crime before overtime (or 25% pay differential).
 

ecps92

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Most Federal LE (Surv) Agencies do not have Dispatch operations (like your local PD/FD/EMS). They do have Radio Operators (Generally Local) to handle monitoring for Safety and for NCIC checks, however others have MegaCenters (Google "NLECC Orlando" as an example)

There are a few who you might hear Dispatch (Local) during Normal Business Hours (FPS, NPS) but most are Surv Ops

I would suggest visting your local library and read thru some of the old Monitoring Times Federal Files sections, it will provide much insight to the various levels of Federal Ops.

Too many folks think it's like listening to your PD/FD (Car 6, Eng 12 response to the....)


Hi I wanted to know how the Federal Goverment is dispatched. Is it by region or by city or county. Could someone explain this to me please.


Thank you
 

ecps92

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All depends on WHO "they" are, each agency is different.

Parks might be busier on a weekend
Airports (TSA, ICE, Customs) depending on flight schedules
Cargo/Cruiseports (ICE, Customs, BP) depending on vessel schedules

YMMV

Do they normally speak more during the week rather than the weekend?
 
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This all depends on the nature of the operation you are trying to listen to. If an airport that is covered by the TSA is open, then you may catch TSA radio traffic on any day of the week. On one hand, with most banks being closed on weekends, FRB activity diminishes on weekends; on the other hand - with more people visiting their facilities for weekend getaways, NPS activity rises during weekends. Secret Service operations are dependent on the protectee's schedule. BoP operations are 24/7 but USMS ops slow down when the courts are closed on federal holidays. As I said, it all depends on who you are trying to monitor and what they do for a living.

Yes. The best time to catch clear traffic seems to be early AM like 6-7 AM.

1 Because they are bored and talk to their buddies while commuting

2 Because then they can go home at 3-4 PM.

Remember, solve no crime before overtime (or 25% pay differential).

Most Federal LE (Surv) Agencies do not have Dispatch operations (like your local PD/FD/EMS). They do have Radio Operators (Generally Local) to handle monitoring for Safety and for NCIC checks, however others have MegaCenters (Google "NLECC Orlando" as an example)

There are a few who you might hear Dispatch (Local) during Normal Business Hours (FPS, NPS) but most are Surv Ops

I would suggest visting your local library and read thru some of the old Monitoring Times Federal Files sections, it will provide much insight to the various levels of Federal Ops.

Too many folks think it's like listening to your PD/FD (Car 6, Eng 12 response to the....)

All depends on WHO "they" are, each agency is different.

Parks might be busier on a weekend
Airports (TSA, ICE, Customs) depending on flight schedules
Cargo/Cruiseports (ICE, Customs, BP) depending on vessel schedules

YMMV

Thank you to everybody for your help with this. I was wondering when they usually speak alot.
 

polarscribe

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Federal land management agencies often share dispatching from interagency regional centers. For example, the Forest Service-operated Federal Interagency Communications Center in San Bernardino handles the San Bernardino National Forest, Death Valley National Park, BLM California Desert District, Mojave National Preserve, etc. You'll often hear much more traffic than just LE on these frequencies - recreation, resource management, etc. generally ends up on the same channels, at least in some areas. Many national forests still handle their own dispatching duties, however — particularly those in more isolated areas. For example, the Tongass National Forest has separate dispatch centers in Sitka, Ketchikan and Petersburg.
 
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oregontreehugger

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And, depending on the location, some of these forestry / land management communications centers will default to a county police/fire/EMS dispatch center for after-hours comms. For example, Crater Lake NP has its own dispatch center for daytime hours, but anything in the evening or early morning is handled by the county 9-1-1 center. In other areas of the west, you can find local sheriff's deputies doing contract LE work for the BLM, driving around in a pickup with BLM decals, but are actually county employees acting in their capacity, operating on sheriff's freqs. Meanwhile, USFS LE rangers might pop up on their own common nets for chit-chat, but then switch over to a county sheriff frequency to run plates or check in.

In places like CA, you can find "ECC's" (Emergency Command Centers) run by CalFire (CA state forestry) to handle fire & EMS traffic for a large area. This is typical where CalFire has a contract to provide services for a given county (or more). Often, there is a small contigent of federal dispatchers present, too. Especially since much of the state-protected land backs up to federal public lands. These centers are typically 24-hrs., but staffing dwindles at night.

It really just boils down to the geographic location, local needs, funding (or lack thereof), and available resources.
 
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polarscribe;22****7 said:
Federal land management agencies often share dispatching from interagency regional centers. For example, the Forest Service-operated Federal Interagency Communications Center in San Bernardino handles the San Bernardino National Forest, Death Valley National Park, BLM California Desert District, Mojave National Preserve, etc. You'll often hear much more traffic than just LE on these frequencies - recreation, resource management, etc. generally ends up on the same channels, at least in some areas. Many national forests still handle their own dispatching duties, however — particularly those in more isolated areas. For example, the Tongass National Forest has separate dispatch centers in Sitka, Ketchikan and Petersburg.

And, depending on the location, some of these forestry / land management communications centers will default to a county police/fire/EMS dispatch center for after-hours comms. For example, Crater Lake NP has its own dispatch center for daytime hours, but anything in the evening or early morning is handled by the county 9-1-1 center. In other areas of the west, you can find local sheriff's deputies doing contract LE work for the BLM, driving around in a pickup with BLM decals, but are actually county employees acting in their capacity, operating on sheriff's freqs. Meanwhile, USFS LE rangers might pop up on their own common nets for chit-chat, but then switch over to a county sheriff frequency to run plates or check in.

In places like CA, you can find "ECC's" (Emergency Command Centers) run by CalFire (CA state forestry) to handle fire & EMS traffic for a large area. This is typical where CalFire has a contract to provide services for a given county (or more). Often, there is a small contigent of federal dispatchers present, too. Especially since much of the state-protected land backs up to federal public lands. These centers are typically 24-hrs., but staffing dwindles at night.

It really just boils down to the geographic location, local needs, funding (or lack thereof), and available resources.

Thank you to the both of you for the info.
 

SCPD

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I am going to weigh in late on this thread as I have been unable to participate until this last week due to health reasons. I will expand on what polarscribe posted just a bit. There are 105 federal natural resource/land management interagency dispatch centers in the west. There are far fewer centers in the east as the amount of federal public lands in the east is minimal in comparison. Most of these are interagency in nature. All have interagency board of directors with coop agreements to facilitate a true interagency operation.

Where the facility is located and who has the lead role in running it depends on the workload of the area. In Nevada the centers are based on BLM districts, rather than National Forests due to the large amount of BLM federal land there. This results in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests being split up between six dispatch centers. Interagency centers have employees that work for and are paid by the agencies participating. This is usually the BLM and the Forest Service and the other agencies, which have a smaller workload, contribute to the salaries of the BLM and USFS employees. The employees of these centers monitor the radio nets of all the agencies and don't delegate dispatching on an agency by agency basis. A BLM dispatcher will dispatch for the USFS on National Forest lands from the initial attack and all the way to extended attack and to the major incident phase. The reverse is also true.

Many centers also include state agencies, most often the state forestry agencies, but in some cases state parks and state game and fish agencies as well. In most cases federal centers include four of the five federal land management agencies, those being the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Some centers, such as Williams and Flagstaff also include the fifth land management agency, that of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Centers in New Mexico include all the Indian reservations in the state as well as the New Mexico State Forestry Division. The boundaries of these centers are aligned with the five national forests in the state resulting in BLM and NM Forestry districts being split up between more than one center.

The National Park Service usually has dispatch centers of their own at the larger national parks. This is the case in Yosemite National Park where all dispatching, including fire management, is done by the park's own dispatch center. Yosemite also dispatches the law enforcement function for Lassen National Park. The NPS likes to keep law enforcement dispatch centers and in some cases the fire management function is included in an interagency center. This is the case with Grand Canyon National Park where the Williams center dispatches fire for the park and Lassen where the Susanville dispatch center does the same. The boundaries and jurisdictions involved depend on the workload and locations of them locally.

In California there are federal only centers and some where Cal Fire and the USFS/BLM are co-located. The state dispatches for and pays its employee salaries for Cal Fire only and so do the federal agencies. This saves money as both share the same center and it facilitates coordination because dispatchers from the two entities are in the same large room and are able to meet face to face looking at the same wall map rather than talking on the phone. There are a lot of fires that quickly involve the jurisdictions of the state and federal agencies. In California Cal Fire provides services to 48 of the 58 counties. Some provide dispatching for fire departments in the county, some provide for the command and administration of all the volunteer and small town/city fire departments in a county and in some cases the counties pay Cal Fire to provide a county fire department.

All of this complexity is just for land management and fire agencies. If the Border Patrol is examined dispatch centers are based on sectors or groups of sectors. The Federal Protective Service has four "MegaCenters" providing dispatching for the entire agency nationwide. Then there are many, maybe most, agencies that don't use radio at all.

You asked a major question that requires major answers.
 
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I am going to weigh in late on this thread as I have been unable to participate until this last week due to health reasons. I will expand on what polarscribe posted just a bit. There are 105 federal natural resource/land management interagency dispatch centers in the west. There are far fewer centers in the east as the amount of federal public lands in the east is minimal in comparison. Most of these are interagency in nature. All have interagency board of directors with coop agreements to facilitate a true interagency operation.

Where the facility is located and who has the lead role in running it depends on the workload of the area. In Nevada the centers are based on BLM districts, rather than National Forests due to the large amount of BLM federal land there. This results in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests being split up between six dispatch centers. Interagency centers have employees that work for and are paid by the agencies participating. This is usually the BLM and the Forest Service and the other agencies, which have a smaller workload, contribute to the salaries of the BLM and USFS employees. The employees of these centers monitor the radio nets of all the agencies and don't delegate dispatching on an agency by agency basis. A BLM dispatcher will dispatch for the USFS on National Forest lands from the initial attack and all the way to extended attack and to the major incident phase.

Many centers also include state agencies, most often the state forestry agencies, but in some cases state parks and state game and fish agencies as well. In most cases federal centers include four of the five federal land management agencies, those being the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Some centers, such as Williams and Flagstaff also include the fifth land management agency, that of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Centers in New Mexico include all the Indian reservations in the state as well as the New Mexico State Forestry Division. The boundaries of these centers are aligned with the five national forests in the state resulting in BLM and NM Forestry districts being split up between more than one center.

The National Park Service usually has dispatch centers of their own at the larger national parks. This is the case in Yosemite National Park where all dispatching, including fire management, is done by the parks own dispatch center. Yosemite also dispatches law enforcement function for the Lassen National Park. The NPS likes to keep law enforcement dispatch centers and in some cases the fire management function is included in an interagency center. This is the case with Grand Canyon National Park where the Williams center dispatches fire for the park and Lassen where the Susanville dispatch center does the same. The boundaries and jurisdictions involved depend on the workload and locations of them locally.

In California there are federal only centers and some where Cal Fire and the USFS/BLM are co-located. The state dispatches for and pays its employee salaries for Cal Fire only and so do the federal agencies. This saves money as both share the same center and it facilitates coordination because dispatchers from the two entities are in the same large room and are able to meet face to face looking at the same wall map rather than talking on the phone. There are a lot of fires that quickly involve the jurisdictions of the state and federal agencies. In California Cal Fire provides services to 48 of the 58 counties. Some provide dispatching for country fire departments, some provide for the command and administration of all the volunteer and small town/city fire departments in a county and in some cases the counties pay Cal Fire to provide a county fire department.

All of this complexity is just for land management and fire agencies. If the Border Patrol is examined dispatch centers are based on sectors or groups of sectors. The Federal Protective Service has four "MegaCenters" providing dispatching for the entire agency nationwide. Then there are many, maybe most, agencies that don't use radio at all.

You asked a major question that requires major answers.


Thank you very much for explaining it throughly to me. Now I understand how they are dispatched.
 

SCPD

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I forgot to include a link that provides the boundaries for interagency federal land management agencies in the western 11 states, with the exception of California where the number of dispatch centers is high. Some state and federal centers overlap in this state and that adds to the complexity of the situation.

GACC >Logistics/Dispatch

I hope this helps those who might be interested in more detail.
 

yaesu_dave

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Most of the federal government radio traffic in my area (Salt Lake/Ogden/Provo, UT) either went to cell phones or 800 MHz years ago. The local US Forest Service units are dispatched through the Weber County consolidated dispatch center in Ogden. When the DEA and FBI were still using radios in the federal government frequency bands, they were dispatched through the regional office in Denver. In more rural areas of the state the feds still use the VHF/UHF bands for communication, but about the only federal radio traffic to be heard in the Salt Lake City metro area is the Hill Air Force Base trunked system in the 400 MHz band. That system seems to be active almost 24/7, as there are several different shifts at the base.
 
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