The Baltimore Sun
 AP Photo Gov. O’Malley announced plans Thursday for a statewide communications initiative to coordinate state and local emergency responders. |
DAYTON, Md. — Gov. Martin O’Malley today announced a plan to make sure all radios used by fire, police and other emergency workers in the state are compatible.
The new system, which officials estimate will take five to eight years to develop, is designed to overcome the kind of incompatibility among local and state communications systems that bedeviled emergency workers responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
O’Malley, who advocated nationally for more funding for local homeland security efforts while he was Baltimore’s mayor, said in a news release that establishing statewide interoperable communications has been a priority for his administration.
“Implementing an advanced statewide interoperable communications system is a top priority in securing our homeland,” O’Malley said in the release. “Ensuring the dependability of radio connectivity between all public safety agencies, including first responders, is vital for the protection of our citizens and to Maryland’s emergency personnel.”
O’Malley today signed an executive order directing the state to issue a request for proposals and establishing a project management office to oversee the construction and operation of the new system. The project will be partly funded by a $22.9 million federal grant, according to the release.
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