Illinois Rolls Out Campus Security Program

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today announced Schaumburg-based Motorola is joining the state effort to strengthen emergency communication on Illinois college campuses. Motorola will help provide STARCOM21 radios valued at $294,000 to college campuses as part of the Governor's recently-announced initiative to strengthen safety for students, faculty, staff and visitors at Illinois institutions of higher education.

On April 29, Blagojevich announced three college campus security initiatives, including $330,000 in grants from the Illinois Terrorism Task Force (ITTF) used to purchase 171 STARCOM21 radios. Motorola, developer of the network, has agreed to contribute an additional 132 radios, bringing the total number of radios to be distributed to college campuses to more than 300. The radios will provide colleges with the capability to access the interoperable communications network used by other responders during emergencies.

The Illinois Campus Law Enforcement Administrators will allocate the radios, which are expected to be made available to campus security forces prior to the beginning of the fall semester. A training session will be held for those receiving the radios so that they'll be able to use them once they return to their campuses.

In addition to the radios, other college security initiatives include:

• Creation of an Illinois Campus Security Task Force with members representing community colleges, public and private colleges and universities, proprietary institutions, the ITTF, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), the Illinois State Police (ISP), the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS), and the Illinois Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. The governor directed the task force to identify training needs and implement programs that will help campus security officials prepare for, respond to and recover from security incidents on their campuses.

• Appointing the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) and the Illinois Campus Law Enforcement Administrators to the ITTF. The participation of these groups in the ITTF will also allow other public safety bodies to gain additional insight into the security issues and incidence response requirements unique to college campuses. The ITTF currently has more than 70 member organizations representing state and local agencies, public safety organizations, municipalities with populations over 100,000 and the business community.