Verizon Frontline 2024 Public Safety Communications Survey

About the survey

Verizon Frontline’s fourth annual Public Safety Communications Survey reveals how first responders are thinking about the ways in which connectivity and technology impact their profession, both now and in the years to come.

Commissioned by Verizon Frontline, Lexipol—publisher of Police1, FireRescue1, EMS1, Gov1, and Corrections1—surveyed nearly 1,700 public safety professionals from emergency medical services, fire and police departments, emergency management agencies, and public safety answering points and emergency call centers. The survey focused on the technology used by first responders, network connectivity and 5G, emergency preparedness, and anticipated future use of technology in public safety.

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Major Takeaways

Reliable connectivity remains mission critical, with an eye towards future technology needs

Network reliability remains the top priority for public safety professionals, with a growing number of respondents also acknowledging the connection between 5G and reliability.

While reliable connectivity is of paramount concern for first responders today, these public safety professionals also pointed towards the growing importance of AI and the ways they felt this technology could most benefit their day-to-day operations. These use cases ranged from enhanced situational awareness to advanced training to managing cybersecurity threats.

Reliability and 5G, which were last year’s top priorities, were even more important to this year’s survey respondents. Last year, about half of respondents (51%) said a reliable and resilient network was the most important factor in day-to-day communications.

That number jumped to 65% in this year’s survey. The percentage increase is almost identical with regard to emergency response communications: 51% of last year’s respondents believed a reliable and resilient network was paramount, while 64% this year thought the same.

There’s been a similar upward trend in first responders’ perception of 5G. Two years ago, only 18% of respondents viewed 5G as a top priority. That percentage climbed to almost a quarter (23%) last year, and kept climbing this year, up to 28%. With another 38% seeing 5G as important to the work they do, nearly two-thirds (66%) of public safety professionals highly value 5G connectivity

This year’s results also show that, in the mind of first responders, reliability and 5G are effectively bound together. Almost a third of respondents (30%) believed reliability was the most important benefit of 5G.

Disaster and cyberattack preparedness remains a concern

Two years ago, 69% of public safety professionals felt somewhat or very prepared technology-wise for a natural disaster or crisis. This year, almost 10% fewer respondents (60%) felt the same. Only a quarter of respondents in 2022 said they were somewhat unprepared or were neutral about their technology preparedness for a natural disaster. That proportion rose to more than a third (34%) this year.

Unsurprisingly, due to the importance of connectivity during crises and natural disasters, respondents across the various public safety professions saw the value of deployable network assets such as portable satellite assets or cells on wheels (COWs).

In fact, while 43% viewed them as important to public safety operations today, close to seven out of ten (66%) stated these assets would be either “important” or “a top priority” in the future.

From a cyberattack perspective, less than half (45%) felt that their agency or department was prepared or somewhat prepared if an attack were to happen. This number was consistent with the 2022 findings, which showed that 46% had this degree of confidence. Interestingly, among respondent groups, fire departments voiced the greatest concern in their preparedness with over one in five (21%) stating that their department was not prepared for a cyberattack. Moreover, an additional 18% stated that they were only somewhat prepared.

Today’s technology is still of interest, tomorrow’s technology sparks possibility

The ways that first responders work and respond to emergencies continues to evolve, especially as more advanced technologies become widely available. While respondents continue to feel confident in the communications technology they are currently using, it’s clear many of them are also open to embracing new technology.

When asked which technology was most important to the future of public safety, the largest contingent of respondents (39%) said 5G, followed by deployable assets (22%) and AI/smart solutions (18%).

And while only a small percentage (14%) of respondents’ agencies stated that they are currently using AI or smart solutions, 75% believed that AI/smart solutions would be “somewhat important” to “a top priority” in the future. In terms of use cases identified, optimizing resource allocation (24%), enhancing situational awareness (23%) and improving early warning systems (20%) were named the top benefits that public safety agencies could derive from AI.

Additional findings