Executive Order
03-19

Whereas, the safety of the people of Missouri is of the highest concern to the State of Missouri and its officials; and

Whereas, the people of Missouri depend upon the public safety personnel in the State of Missouri to protect the safety and security of the public; and

Whereas, public safety personnel must work together effectively and efficiently to coordinate their response to emergencies, minimize response time, and maximize resources; and

Whereas, dependable public safety radio communications is an essential component of Missouri's response to emergencies to get the right resources to the right places at the right time and as quickly as possible; and

Whereas, the public safety personnel in the State of Missouri depend upon communications equipment and personnel for their own safety and the safety of the public, and

Whereas, public safety radio communications are a critical infrastructure to the public safety personnel responding to those emergencies by providing an invaluable lifeline to emergency assistance both for the unfortunate victims and for the emergency personnel themselves; and

Whereas, communications interoperability is a critical element to the safety of emergency personnel throughout Missouri and to the benefit of Missouri's citizens; and

Whereas, the State of Missouri supports the efforts of emergency responders and must ensure that they have the tools necessary to serve and protect the people of Missouri.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BOB HOLDEN, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the constitution and the laws of the State of Missouri, do hereby declare that it is the public policy of this state to promote effective and interoperable public safety communications in real time and on demand between all personnel of all state, local, and federal agencies, and the development of necessary communications capabilities and procedures needed to provide assured emergency response, and to minimize the response time for first responders to emergency or disastrous situations. It is the responsibility of this state to establish an interoperable public safety radio environment for the benefit of the public, and all local, state, and federal emergency responders in Missouri.

There is hereby created a "Public Safety Communications Committee", to be composed of:

  1. The Director of the Department of Public Safety or designee;
  2. The Director of the Office of Homeland Security or designee;
  3. The Director of the Department of Conservation or designee;
  4. The Director of the Department of Transportation or designee;
  5. The Director of the Department of Natural Resources or designee;
  6. The Director of the Department of Corrections or designee; and
  7. The Director of the Department of Health or designee.

The Public Safety Communications Committee shall have as its primary mission the maintenance and operation of state radio communications for the delivery of reliable and interoperable communications capability to all state radio users. The committee shall establish and follow a long-term radio communications strategy to effectively and efficiently meet the radio communications needs of all state radio users and shall seek state and federal funding mechanisms to implement that strategy.

There is further hereby established the position of Public Safety Communications Coordinator, within the Department of Public Safety's Highway Patrol Communications Division, to head the committee. The Coordinator shall endeavor to consolidate, enhance, and promote communication functions within Missouri state government and foster interoperable communications among all public safety radio users in Missouri. The Coordinator shall have primary responsibility and authority in matters of state operated radio communications.

The communications committee shall ensure that state radio systems are interoperable with local and federal agencies and comply with interoperability standards, policies, and practices adopted by Missouri's FCC recognized State Interoperability Executive Committee, which shall act as a communications oversight task force with participation of and representation from private, local and state agencies of all public safety disciplines. The Communications Coordinator shall work in cooperation with the State Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC) to promote effective interoperable communications among local, state, and federal radio users in the State of Missouri.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Missouri, in the City of Jefferson on this 10th day of December, 2003.

[Bob Holden's signature]
Bob Holden
Governor

ATTEST:

[Matt Blunt's signature]
Matt Blunt
Secretary of State

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