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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The Illinois Statewide Communications
3 Interoperability Plan was officially approved by the U.S.
4 Department of Homeland Security in the spring of 2008; and
 
5     WHEREAS, The plan sets forth a statewide communications
6 strategy that focuses on establishing a mechanism for all
7 public agencies to communicate emergency information during a
8 local, regional, or State-wide disaster; and
 
9     WHEREAS, A key component of Illinois' interoperability
10 strategy is Starcom 21, a State-wide interoperable voice radio
11 system designed to provide radio communications, services, and
12 interoperability to federal, State, county, and local public
13 safety practitioners; and
 
14     WHEREAS, The system allows public safety and public service
15 agencies throughout Illinois to effectively and
16 cost-efficiently operate on a common network; and
 
17     WHEREAS, After the shootings on the Virginia Tech campus in
18 April of 2007, more than 300 Starcom 21 radios were distributed
19 to 70 college campuses around the State; and
 
20     WHEREAS, The Starcom 21 system played a vital role in

 

 

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1 alerting first responders in the wake of the Northern Illinois
2 University tragedy in February of 2008; and
 
3     WHEREAS, To date, the State has distributed more than 2,800
4 Starcom 21 radios to public safety agencies; and
 
5     WHEREAS, The Governor's Campus Security Task Force
6 recommended that colleges and universities should make
7 development and implementation of an interoperable
8 communications system a priority of campus emergency planning;
9 and
 
10     WHEREAS, The Task Force report specifically named the
11 Starcom 21 system as a central means of implementing an
12 interoperable communications mechanism for colleges and
13 universities, as well as law enforcement and public safety
14 agencies throughout Illinois; and
 
15     WHEREAS, The livelihood of all Illinois citizens could
16 someday depend upon the synchronization of local, State, and
17 federal emergency responders via a system like Starcom 21;
18 therefore, be it
 
19     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
21 urge all State, local, and county officials, especially the

 

 

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1 Bloomington police and fire departments, to join the Normal
2 police and fire departments, the McLean County Sheriff's
3 Department, the Illinois State Police, and numerous other
4 State, county, and municipal law enforcement and emergency
5 services agencies in adopting the Starcom 21 system for
6 interoperable communications to ensure expedient communication
7 and action in the event of a disaster and further enhancing
8 public safety; and be it further
 
9     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
10 distributed to the Illinois State Police, the Illinois
11 Association of Chiefs of Police, the Illinois Fraternal Order
12 of Police, the Illinois Sheriffs Association, the Illinois
13 Association of Fire Protection Districts, the Illinois
14 Municipal League, the Illinois Association of School
15 Administrators, the Illinois Principals Association, the
16 Illinois Association of School Boards, the Mayor of the City of
17 Bloomington, the members of the Bloomington City Council, the
18 Bloomington Fire and Police Chiefs, the Mayor of Normal, the
19 Normal Town Council, the McLean County Sheriff, the Normal Fire
20 and Police Chiefs, and the McLean County Board.