While in Chicago for 4GWorld, I passed a massive show for the International Association Chiefs of Police.

As they say- the bigger the boys, the bigger the toys- and when it comes to police chiefs, the toys they have access to are nothing short of amazing; armored vehicles, simulators for police chases and shooting environments, and of course carrier services.

Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Sprint and Verizon (News - Alert) put a lot of money into sponsoring these events, and yet, the coverage they got on the blog indicates a disconnect.

The advertising about the offerings from these telecom giants does not seem to connect with the atmosphere of the program. Saying you offer M2M is not as powerful as saying, we can help “command control communications” with solutions in emergency dispatch and public communication. It’s probably a telling sign that EADS (News - Alert) does not exhibit at this conference.

The reality is that PSAPs and 911 networking are not on the chiefs of police’s radar. Over the last 20 years the monies for 911 networks have instead been used to pay for

• patrol car tires
• training
• staff
• anything but the network.

Clearly we need to make 911 a better toy platform for the police chiefs. Here are some ideas:

• make a 911 app
• augment reality video surveillance where 911 can be detected
• make a PSAP game sort of like Diner Dash with dispatch
• embedded mobile barcodes in officers’ player cards

Seriously, there are lots of ways next gen 911 can be integrated into the police chief’s wish list. However, the real thing that is needed is for reality to set in. As Carol David’s RTC Lab and IIT professor pointed out in my interview with her, the pressure is coming from the edge.

The next 911 network is ready for deployment and yet, based on the funding mechanisms in place, I doubt we will see it before the twilight of the PSTN.

At the event, I made the case that we need the Emergency Command Center tie in. Nothing makes a boy’s toy like a lot of bells and whistles. However, one word of caution: the Network Operations Centers after 911 realized they need CNN. Hopefully we can do better in our crisis implementation plans than to think a Facebook (News - Alert) page is the right answer.