MSU Using $7.5 Million in Homeland Security Grants to Boost Communications

Michigan State University (MSU) is using $7.5 million in Homeland Security grants to link area emergency professionals to state and federal response teams.

“One of the criticisms in the 9/11Commission Report was the lack of information sharing -  that agencies weren’t able to connect the dots, they weren’t doing analysis and they weren’t able to get the right information in the right hands,” says David Carter with the university’s Criminal Justice Department.

Carter and his staff started providing intelligence training in mid-2005. One area of training they specifically hone in on is making sure local, state and federal emergency providers communicate effectively in regards to intelligence issues. Carter and his staff have trained more than 2,000 officers from 1,200 agencies in 43 states and three countries in intelligence sharing.

Carter’s also helping the East Lansing-based Michigan Intelligence Operations Center for Homeland Security, which opened in 2007, get connected to local, state and federal emergency providers.

Source: Michigan State University

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.