Senator Sees First Hand
How Leahy-Funded Communications System
Makes State Troopers More Prepared For Incidents

[RUTLAND (Wednesday, March 22) – U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy visited the Rutland State Police Barracks Wednesday to witness a demonstration of a new state police communication system.  Since 2001, Leahy has secured $2.5 million for the Mobile Data and Remote Computing Project, to help the state police link patrolling troopers, their barracks and communication centers using laptop computers and state-of-the art software.  Leahy, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, secured the grants in various budget bills funding the Department of Justice.  Leahy’s remarks from the event follow.]

Remarks Of Sen. Patrick Leahy
Announcement Of Vermont State Police Mobile Data Project
Rutland State Police Barracks
March 22, 2006

I want to thank everyone for gathering here at the Rutland Barracks to unveil an integrated crime-fighting tool that will usher the Vermont State Police into a new age of protecting public safety through better information sharing.  The Mobile Data and Remote Computing Project will enhance the ability of our State Police to quickly and efficiently respond to calls, handle incidents, and access and share critical information with a touch of a button.

I want to especially thank Lieutenant Donald Patch and the troopers assigned to the Rutland area for letting us invade their station.

My thanks also go to Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper, Colonel Tom Powlovich of the Vermont State Police and Paco Aumand, Director of the Public Safety Division of Criminal Justice Services, for joining me here to explain why access to information is essential to any successful public safety effort.  They should all be commended for their leadership in Vermont’s efforts to ensure that our State Police out in the field have the capacity to share critical information.

State and local police officers are the first responders to an emergency and have to determine almost instantaneously whether the cause was an accident, a crime or, worse, an organized terrorist attack.  To make these split-second decisions and to make them wisely and appropriately, they must have access to the information necessary to evaluate these situations accurately and swiftly.

When police were pursuing gunman Carl Drega along the Vermont-New Hampshire border nearly a decade ago, after he shot and killed four people, including two New Hampshire State troopers, their efforts were hampered by outdated police radios that prevented State and Federal authorities from effectively coordinating their efforts.  The Drega shootings also were the impetus for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program that I introduced soon after that episode, with the Republican Senator from Colorado at the time, Ben Nighthorse Campbell.  And I’m pleased to be able to report that last week the Senate approved my budget amendment that would restore the 63 percent cut that the White House’s budget calls for in this vest partnership grant program, allowing us to fully fund it in next year’s budget.  This is a program that already has made it possible for Vermont’s police and sheriff’s offices to be able to afford to buy 1400 vests for officers who otherwise may not have had this life-saving protection.

Also in the aftermath of the tragic Drega shootings, I have done what I can to secure for Vermont Federal funds for new law enforcement communications equipment and mobile data units.  I know from my own experience in law enforcement back in my days as the Chittenden County State’s Attorney that access to accurate and timely information will help save lives.  Good communication is one of the biggest challenges that first-responder agencies continue to face across the nation, as we saw again in the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  This is a task that we simply have to get right, but the good news is that this is a problem that is fixable, with vision and adequate resources.

I am proud to have worked closely with the Department of Public Safety to secure $2.25 million total in the 2001, 2002 and 2006 Justice Department budgets to set up the Mobile Data and Remote Computing system that we roll out today.  At this time, the State Police are able to equip aircards in laptops in 30 State Police cruisers and 20 State Police detective units.  By the end of the year, another 60 units will be ready to go.  This is a remarkable achievement, and it’s one that will make a difference in your abilities to protect the people of Vermont.

Technology is helping to improve the efficiency, the effectiveness and the accessibility of our public safety system.  This project will help Vermont achieve those benefits.

We have taken great pains to ensure that the Mobile Data and Remote Computing Project will truly improve intelligence-gathering and intelligence–sharing capabilities throughout Vermont.  From here on out, wherever State Troopers and State Police Detectives are responding to a call – whether here in the City of Rutland, or way up in the remote reaches of the Northeast Kingdom along the Canadian border – they will have at hand laptops through which they can access and share much-needed criminal intelligence and investigative support services.  This capability will help catch criminals faster and make sure a suspect’s records are readily available and easily searchable when needed.

Events of the past decade – from local incidents like the Drega shootout to the terrorist attacks of September 11th in New York City, Washington and Pennsylvania – have taught us that our best defense against crime and terrorism is improved communication and coordination among local, State and Federal authorities.  Through these efforts, led by the Federal government and with the active and dedicated assistance of many others in other levels of government and in the private sector, we can enhance our prevention efforts, improve our response mechanisms, and at the same time ensure that funds allotted for protection against crime and terrorism are being used most effectively.

Now more than ever it is imperative for local, State and Federal law enforcement and criminal justice agencies to have access to and the ability to shared information – one of the most valuable resources out there in our efforts to keep Americans safe.

Our announcement today bodes well for the future of information sharing and gathering for our criminal justice agencies, which will only enhance the effectiveness of criminal justice and law enforcement efforts to keep Vermont a safe and wonderful place to live and raise a family.

Thank you for all you do.

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