Funding Is Contained in the Fiscal Year 2008 CJS Bill
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Arlen Specter, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Bob Casey, the junior Senator from Pennsylvania, announced that full U.S. Senate approved funding for several Pennsylvania projects. The projects are contained in the Fiscal Year 2008 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, which reached final passage Tuesday night with a vote of 75-19.
“This legislation will have tremendous impact on local communities by enhancing safety through advanced law enforcement programs and promoting important scientific initiatives,” Specter said. “I am pleased my Congressional colleagues have approved federal funding for these vital projects.”
“I am proud that the Senate has approved these important projects for Pennsylvania,” Casey said. “I will continue to work with Senator Specter to fund economic development programs, law enforcement and violence prevention initiatives, and scientific research projects throughout the commonwealth.”
The bill will now be approved by the full Congress and the President of the United States before funding is final.
Pennsylvania projects in the bill include:
$2 million for Susquehanna River Basin Flood System for flood inundation maps and capital improvements to flood warning system for the Susquehanna River Basin, one of the most flood-prone watersheds in the entire nation. The Susquehanna River Flood Forecasting and Warning System uses radar techniques and a network of rain and stream gauges to provide data used by the National Weather Service river forecast centers.
$1 million for the City of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County for a program to reduce youth violence and homicide rates. The City’s Youth Violence Reduction Partnership is a multi-agency anti-violence initiative that has succeeded in reducing murders among youth ages 10-24 in targeted high crime areas of Philadelphia.
$750,000 for the City of Reading Police Department in Berks County for security enhancements and cameras in the City of Reading. In October 2006, Reading was ranked 21st in the nation among most dangerous cities by the Morgan Quinto Press.
$700,000 for Erie County Department of Public Safety in Erie County for a mobile communication system. The Erie County New Generation Mobile Communication Initiative will meet the need for seamless communication between the county’s 911-center and emergency responders.
$400,000 for the City of Bethlehem Police Department in Northampton County for interoperable in-car digital video camera systems. Police departments in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton have joined together, along with 32 other law enforcement agencies, to support an initiative to secure, install, and maintain up to 300 interoperable in-car digital video camera systems for the fleets of the partner law enforcement agencies.
$400,000 for East End Cooperative Ministry of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County for at-risk youth mentoring programs designed to give students greater opportunities and to deter crime and juvenile delinquency.
$400,000 for Luzerne County Community College in Luzerne County for training and equipment acquisition for the Public Safety Training Institute. The facility will meet the educational and tactical training needs of 151 police departments, 352 fire departments, 21 hospitals, and other first responders in a ten-county area in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
$350,000 for the City of York in York County for a records management system acquisition. In order to facilitate communications between City and County law enforcement agencies. This initiative will also improve efficiency, enhance coordination between agencies, and eliminate redundancy in records.
$300,000 for Beaver County Emergency Services Center in Beaver County for public safety radio systems acquisition and upgrades to the 9-1-1 Center.
$300,000 for the Chester County District Attorney’s Office in Chester County for incident response management technology. Smart card technology will provide more secure credentialing, tracking, management and accountability of first responders at crime scenes.
$250,000 for Alvernia College and the Reading City Police Academy in Berks County for equipment to train police officers. The College seeks to create and establish high-tech laboratories and new technological equipment, which will be used by the Academy to train police officers in investigation techniques for white collar, internet and cyber crime.
$200,000 for the Snyder County Emergency Services Department in Snyder County for interoperable telecommunications equipment which will enable rapid on-scene communications among all first responder agencies in the county.
# # #
