Pinellas County, Fla. will showcase the nation’s first private wireless emergency management wide-band data technology trial system, during NACo’s Large Urban County Caucus (LUCC) Regional Meeting in St. Petersburg, Fla., May 8–10.
The pilot program, which required FCC approval, was deployed about 18 months ago by the county and Motorola to test specific high-speed information technologies. Entitled “Project Greenhouse,” the live demonstration will give metropolitan elected leaders an idea of how counties can enhance emergency management communications and interoperability among public safety agencies.
The LUCC Regional Meeting, open to metropolitan elected county executives and commissioners from the nation’s 100 largest counties, is held annually to give elected leaders a close-up look at some of the most innovative or progressive ideas being implemented by a metropolitan county.
President George W. Bush has asked Congress to set aside $3.5 billion in the FY03 budget to help county law enforcement, firefighters and other emergency personnel buy equipment, conduct training exercises and make other preparations to deal with terrorist attacks. Included in the proposal is the opportunity to fund improvements to local communications systems.
The Pinellas County demonstration and full day meetings should give officials a better understanding of how they might best apply such communication interoperability systems within their own counties.
If you are a LUCC elected official and wish to attend the event, please contact Shawn Bullard, associate legislative director, at (202) 942-4212.
To view a list of Large Urban County Caucus member counties, or to learn more about the caucus, please access its Web site at www.urbancounties.org.
