Pol: Cities need stronger first responder communications

In testimony on behalf of the National League of Cities, Rob Drake, mayor of Portland suburb Beaverton, Ore., told a House subcomittee on emergency preparedness that the federal government should “allow more flexibility” in the use of federal public-safety funds so that local municipalities can upgrade their first responder communications systems and improve training.

He also called for the federal government to provide funding directly to local governments for homeland security and emergency preparedness and to increase the visibility of the Department of Homeland Security’s Project SAFECOM “because interoperable communications influences hometown security directly.”