|
On April 29, Blagojevich announced three college campus security
initiatives, including $330,000 in grants from the Illinois
Terrorism Task Force that is being used to purchase 171 Starcom21
radios. Motorola, developer of the network, has agreed to contribute
an additional 132 radios, bringing the total number of radios to be
distributed to college campuses to more than 300. The radios will
provide colleges with the capability to access the interoperable
communications network used by other responders during emergencies.
"I want to thank Motorola for joining us in this effort,"
Blagojevich said. "We have a responsibility to make sure students
are safe on college campuses, and their donation will provide campus
security forces with the most up-to-date equipment needed to
communicate with first responders in an emergency."
Starcom21 is a statewide communications system deployed in a
public-private partnership between the state of Illinois and
Motorola. This network allows emergency management, law enforcement,
fire and public health agencies to talk to each other from nearly
anywhere within the state. Starcom21 is one of several statewide
interoperable networks developed by Motorola for first responders in
the United States.
The Illinois Terrorism Task Force made Starcom21 radios available
to every public safety agency throughout the state, including law
enforcement, fire, emergency management and public health
departments. A total of $10.7 million has been dedicated to the
procurement of Starcom21 radios for state and local public safety
agencies in Illinois.
"Motorola is very pleased to be participating in the governor's
campus safety initiative by providing mission-critical portable
radios, including donating 132 of the radios to support the state's
efforts," said Jack Molloy, vice president of communications and
electronics for Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions. "Motorola is
looking forward to working with the state of Illinois in this effort
to help increase safety on more than 180 college campuses throughout
Illinois."
[to top of second column]
 |
 Motorola's donation is valued at approximately $294,000, based on
Starcom21 contract pricing. The model being ordered for the
colleges, the Motorola XTS1500 portable radio, is one of Motorola's
mission-critical public safety handheld radios that is used for
public safety and other public service and public works uses.
The Illinois Campus Law Enforcement Administrators will allocate
the radios, which are expected to be made available to campus
security forces prior to the beginning of the fall semester. A
training session will be conducted for those receiving the radios.
In addition to the Starcom radios, the governor's other college
security initiatives include:
Creation of an Illinois Campus Security Task Force with members
representing community colleges, public and private colleges and
universities, proprietary institutions, the Illinois Terrorism Task
Force, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, the Illinois State
Police, the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System, and the Illinois
Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. The governor directed the
task force to identify training needs and implement programs that
will help campus security officials prepare for, respond to and
recover from security incidents on their campuses.
Appointing the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Illinois
Community College Board and the Illinois Campus Law Enforcement
Administrators to the Illinois Terrorism Task Force. The
participation of these groups in the task force will also allow
other public safety bodies to gain additional insight into the
security issues and incidence response requirements unique to
college campuses. The Illinois Terrorism Task Force currently has
more than 70 member organizations, representing state and local
agencies, public safety organizations, municipalities with
populations over 100,000, and the business community.
[Text from file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information] |
