TRUMBULL COUNTY Various safety forces use grant to buy equipment

One rejected proposal was to monitor possible terrorist targets by TV.
VIENNA -- Police and fire officials balanced competing proposals to come up with a $1.4 million shopping list of items to be purchased with a Department of Homeland Security grant.
The decision by the Trumbull County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management's executive committee came following dozens of subcommittee meetings to review specific proposals, said chief deputy sheriff Ernie Cook, the executive committee chair.
Hospitals and police and fire departments from across the county were invited to comment and participate in the process, he said.
The list finalized this week itemizes how grants awarded in 2003 and 2004 will be spent, he said.
The largest chunk of money, $432,000, would go toward upgrading the backbone of radio towers and base radio equipment used by safety forces.
The upgrade would allow the system to process data, as well as voice transmissions, said county 911 director Tim Gladis.
The upgrade would allow officers who have laptop computers in their cars to send e-mails to officers in other departments, he said. The computers could also to communicate with dispatch computers and a state criminal database.
It is a step short of an earlier proposal that included buying a computer for every cruiser in the county. The idea floundered when officials at smaller departments balked at picking up a $75 a month fee to keep the computers connected.
Howland and Liberty police departments have the in-car computers, but their capabilities will be enhanced, Gladis said.
Where other funds will go
Other major expenditures include $400,000 to equip all schools with weather stations and upgrade the countywide emergency warning systems. New sirens are being added in locations that have no coverage, Cook said.
Another $312,000 will go toward a trailer packed with equipment firefighters would use to rescue people from collapsed buildings or basements. It will be the second trailer of this type to be put in use in Trumbull County, Cook said.
The committee also decided to chip in $50,000 toward a new vehicle for the Youngstown Bomb Squad. Mahoning and Columbiana counties are contributing similar amounts, Cook said.
Another $71,000 will be spent on decontamination equipment and mobile showers to be stored at St. Joseph Health Center and Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital. The list also includes $14,000 for new equipment to deal with mass casualties and a $8,000 device to test the fit of gas masks.
Rejected proposals included money for a new mobile command center to be shared by Trumbull County departments and for closed circuit television monitoring of 14 locations deemed the most attractive to terrorists, Cook said.