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 "Our statewide emergency communications plan puts a system in
place to ensure our state's public safety agencies can effectively
and efficiently communicate with other agencies when responding to
an emergency," said Blagojevich. "Most importantly, the plan
provides for interoperable communications among our public safety
agencies, which was an important recommendation of the 9/11
Commission. I am proud of the progress Illinois has made in
achieving interoperable emergency communications, and I look forward
to the exciting expansion of this capability throughout the public
safety spectrum in the years to come."
Illinois' Statewide Communication Interoperability Plan
establishes the goals, objectives and strategic initiatives needed
to achieve the state's emergency communications vision. It was
developed by a consortium of federal, state and local public safety
practitioners working through the Illinois Terrorism Task Force
Communications Committee and the Statewide Interoperability
Executive Committee. Partnering in this effort were representatives
from the Illinois State Police, Illinois Emergency Management
Agency, DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management, the Illinois Emergency Services Management Agency, the
Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System, the Mutual Aid Box Alarm
System, and the Communications Committee from the Chicago/Cook
County Urban Area Working Group.
This cross section of public safety practitioners ensured the
interests and needs of the various emergency response organizations
were addressed in the development of the plan.
Illinois submitted the Statewide Communication Interoperability
Plan to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in December 2007
for review and approval. The plan was subjected to a joint peer
review facilitated by the Department of Homeland Security Office of
Emergency Communications, the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency Grant Program Directorate. More than 100 public-sector
employees, including federal, state, local and tribal
representation, with expertise in emergency operations,
interoperable communications, public safety or grants management
participated in the process. Input from the review process was used
by the Department of Homeland Security to make final approval
decisions.
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 Notification of the approval of Illinois' plan included a final
feedback document with consolidated input from the peer review.
Reviewers noted that Illinois' plan was well-written and that it was
"obvious that the state of Illinois has done a great deal of work to
ensure interoperability throughout the state."
Andrew Velasquez III, director of the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency, said the ability to communicate across
organizational lines during an emergency is critical. "Effective
emergency response simply is not possible unless response
organizations can communicate with each other," he said. "Here in
Illinois, we've devoted countless hours developing a solid plan and
invested wisely in that plan to build a strong statewide
communications platform, which was recognized during the federal
review."
A key component of Illinois' interoperability strategy is Starcom
21, a statewide 700-800 megahertz interoperable voice radio system
designed to provide radio communications, services and
interoperability to federal, state, county and local public safety
practitioners. The system allows public safety and public service
agencies throughout Illinois to effectively and cost-efficiently
operate on a common network. To date, the state has distributed more
than 2,800 Starcom 21 radios to public safety agencies.
In addition, as part of the governor's campus security
initiatives announced last April after the shootings on the Virginia
Tech campus, more than 300 Starcom 21 radios have been distributed
to 70 college campuses around the state.
[Text from file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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