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Washington, D.C.– Congresswoman Melissa Bean (IL-08) announced that the House will vote on legislation that includes funding she requested in H.R 3093, the FY08 Commerce, State and Justice Departments Appropriations Bill. The bill includes funding Bean requested for the following projects.
Interoperable Communications Equipment for Barrington Area First Responders: $200,000 for interoperable communications equipment – portable radios, mobile radios and consolettes – to the Barrington-Inverness Police Department, the Barrington Hills Police Department and the Barrington-Countryside Fire Department. Currently, these agencies have incompatible equipment, which prevents efficient communication with each other during emergencies. New interoperable communications equipment will allow seamless communication among area police and firefighters, and will allow the agencies to participate in the Illinois statewide first responder communications network Starcom21.
Firing Range Equipment for the Lake Zurich Police Department: $150,000 for the purchase of firing range equipment. The Lake Zurich Police Department offers on-site classroom training to area law-enforcement organizations, the Illinois State Police, the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy, the Lake County Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This facility has a built-in a firing range but lacks the equipment needed to operate it. Federal funds to purchase equipment like mechanical target tracks, shot traps and a control room will help the department include on-site firearms training and improve the firearms proficiency of area law enforcement personnel.
Public Law Enforcement Communication System for McHenry County: $100,000 for the planning and design of a new public law enforcement communication system in McHenry County. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Department’s radio system is currently operating all channels at capacity, which hinders the interoperability of public safety communications systems. A transition to an 800MHz public communications system will allow for full interoperability between ten McHenry County law enforcement agencies and the six counties participating in the regional public safety communications project “Prairie Shield.”
Lake County Integrated Criminal Justice Information System: $100,000 to assist with the integration of the computer networks of all individual police departments in Lake County with each of the County’s criminal justice departments and to provide a universal interface with the State of Illinois. Currently, the criminal justice systems in Lake County have no automated flow of information and are suffering from systematic redundancy. This funding will allow the County to continue implementation of its comprehensive integration and modernization program.
McHenry County Integrated Criminal Justice Information System: $100,000 to assist with the integration of the computer networks of all of the police departments in McHenry County with each of the County’s criminal justice departments. McHenry County is in the process of modernizing the computer technology of the Courts, State’s Attorney, Public Defender, Sheriff’s Office and Jail. This technology upgrade is a critical step toward integrating the County’s criminal justice information system, and this federal funding will help continue this project to allow McHenry County to completely utilize the benefits of a fully integrated criminal justice system.
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