[Scan-DC] Cuts in Homeland Security aid could hurt county

[Alan Henney]

http://www.gazette.net/stories/060806/princou174458_31940.shtml

Cuts in Homeland Security aid could hurt county
Outdated communications equipment in Prince George’s needs to be
replaced
Thursday, June 8, 2006
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by Judson Berger

Staff Writer

Prince George’s County could face significant setbacks in replacing
its outdated radio system if the federal Department of Homeland
Security sticks with its plan to reduce the National Capital Region’s
grant money by 40 percent.

‘‘The fact that Prince George’s County is the only county in the
region that has an outdated radio system is of incredible concern,”
said Vernon Herron, director of the county’s Office of Homeland
Security. ‘‘This decision is going to have a critical impact on Prince
George’s County and the entire region.”

Herron could not pin down the exact amount of money that the county
could lose, but he said Prince George’s typically receives $2.2
million from the federal government for homeland security, and cuts
from that figure would be significant.

He said the funding is vital for the effort to upgrade the county’s
35-year-old 200 MHz radio system to an 800 MHz network.

If Prince George’s is the only county in the region without those
capabilities, its first responders would not be able to communicate
with their counterparts elsewhere in case of an emergency.

‘‘We’re the gap in the region,” Herron said. ‘‘That’s our No. 1
critical issue in Prince George’s County.”

The office has been evaluating the radio system for two years and
hopes to have a contract for a new system signed in a few months. But
the project, estimated to cost up to $75 million, relies heavily on
federal funding.

John Erzen, spokesman for County Executive Jack B. Johnson, said the
county would replace the system with or without federal dollars, but
that the effort could take longer if the cuts stand.

Erzen said county lobbyists are speaking with representatives on
Capitol Hill about reconsidering the funding plan. Area congressmen
already have protested the decision.

‘‘As our nation’s capital region, we bear a disproportionate burden in
terms of homeland security costs and ensuring public safety needs,”
U.S. Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Dist. 5) of Mechanicsville, and Albert Wynn
(D-Dist. 4) of Mitchellville and other legislators said in a June 1
letter to the Department of Homeland Security.

The congressmen said they were ‘‘dismayed and frustrated” by the plan
to cut spending and asked the department to reconsider, claiming that
the entire region has $190 million in documented need.

The cuts would reduce the amount of funding to the capital region from
$77 million to $46 million.

Herron said the county also uses federal dollars for training first
responders and citizen volunteers and for purchasing protective
uniforms for firefighters and police.

‘‘Homeland security is a critical component of public safety here in
Prince George’s County, and we take it seriously,” Herron said. ‘‘It
would be an injustice to our citizens if we did not fight in order to
get those monies put back.”

E-mail Judson Berger atjberger at gazette.net.