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Why Police Agencies Still Can't Communicate In A Crisis

A longstanding problem; an expensive solution
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Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The four separate police agencies involved in the disorganized response to last summer's protests in Ferguson, Mo., couldn't easily talk to each other.

It might seem inconceivable that interagency communication would be a problem in 2015. But nine years after The 9/11 Commission Report recommended better communications between agencies, and decades since federal reports began identifying problems with how first responders co-ordinate, there are still no federal standards in place. While there has been some progress toward a nationwide solution, it's still a long way off.