Missouri to provide $10 million for radios for use in disasters

Police, fire and others would be on the same system in emergencies.

Area emergency and law enforcement personnel soon will be on the same wavelength when it comes to disasters. Gov. Matt Blunt has announced the state will provide $10 million toward radio equipment and technology to allow law enforcement and emergency personnel to respond to a natural disaster or terrorist crisis in a coordinated way.

The funding had been a priority for some law enforcement leaders. Paul Fennewald, Missouri Homeland Security coordinator, discussed the grant and importance of immediate reliable communication at a meeting Tuesday at Chesterfield City Hall with fire and law enforcement officials from the metropolitan area and adjacent counties.

He said that poor communication hampered response efforts by various agencies during Hurricane Katrina.

Compatible communication will go far to fix this. As part of the new system, the Federal Communications Commission and the Missouri State Highway Patrol have set aside certain program channels for public safety only. The new radios will be compatible with those frequencies.

This move should ensure that all emergency officials, especially law enforcement, will be able to talk over the same channels and frequency, Homeland Security officials said. The new radios also will be adaptable to technology in the future.

The grant includes $2.325 million for St. Louis area new radio technology and $2.325 million for the Kansas City area. Another $5.325 million would be used for communications technology around the state.

Missouri's law enforcement agencies and first responder groups will have 30 days from Jan. 30 to apply for a part of the State Homeland Security Interoperable Communications Grant.