WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Herb Kohl announced that he has secured $400,000 for the City of Madison Police Department as part of the fiscal year 2011 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations bill, which was passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee today.   

"The Madison Police Department and local Dane County law enforcement agencies are highly regarded forces. Their high quality work speaks for itself, but the more they work together the more effective they become," Kohl said. "This funding will create a centralized network that all Dane County law enforcement agencies can tap into and communicate with each other in order to share information and improve communication."  

Over the past seven years, the Madison Police Department has collaborated with the sixteen other Dane County law enforcement agencies to implement technology that allows the agencies to communicate.  Through this funding, the Department will further improve communications and information sharing among the Dane County law enforcement agencies, an effort which will allow law enforcement officers from any of the agencies to access information from a centralized network.  The Madison Police Department will connect their squad cars to the centralized network, install a regional wireless system that all agencies can access, and implement speech recognition software to aid officers in dictating reports.              

This funding will further enhance and upgrade information and communication systems infrastructure, and enable the Police Department to continue collaboration with area law enforcement.  

The Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which includes this project, will next be considered before the full Senate for approval.   ###