‘Bomb robot’ usage in Dallas underscores importance of mission-critical data, not just voice

Yes, there have been isolated anecdotes where having the right information about a suspect could have saved an officer’s life during a routine traffic stop. On a more positive note, the use of a remote-controlled robot to deliver a pizza and a phone to someone who apparently was ready to commit suicide is a cool story. Still, these tales involve somewhat ancillary uses of mobile data, no matter how helpful the communications path may have been in a given situation.

But any questions about the potentially mission-critical nature of data communications should have been laid to rest with the use of the “bomb robot” in Dallas last week. There is nothing more mission critical than delivering communications resulting in the use of lethal force, and failure cannot be tolerated in such circumstances.

It is very possible that the debate over the ethics and legalities regarding the use of lethal force will never end. But that debate should be focused solely on human decisions to take such actions, not tainted by concerns that the human directives will not be executed properly because of a potential problem with the delivery of the command to execute a task.

Mission-critical data is a very real need in today’s public-safety arena, and it is important that FirstNet and other solutions provide the robust, secure connectivity to first responders during the aftermath of emergency incidents.