Wisconsin will be better prepared to deal with terrorism, thanks to $2.6 million worth of federal grants received Tuesday from the Office of Justice Preparedness.
The money will be distributed to counties statewide for the purchasing of equipment to handle a variety of terrorist acts, according to Lori Getter, spokesperson for Wisconsin Emergency Management. Dane County will be awarded $165,600 of the grant, second only to Milwaukee County's share of $309,200.
The funding comes from federal approval of the Statewide Domestic Preparedness Strategic Plan, a proposal each state had to submit to the federal government concerning the status of its domestic security, Getter said.
\Basically, we worked with all the counties, looking at what were potential threats in the communities [and] were there any violent, potential terrorist-like groups in those counties,"" Getter said. ""This equipment will be going to the first responders and help them to be able to do their jobs.""
Debbie Monterrey-Millet, press secretary for Gov. Scott McCallum, said the governor wants the local level to be as prepared as possible.
""What [he] has been stressing, especially after Sept. 11, is the need for not only the state to be ready, but also the local governments to be ready,"" she said. ""Really, the local level is where it starts. They are the first line of defense.""
According to Dane County Director of Emergency Management Kathy Krusic, the county was found to be lacking in the areas of personal protection equipment, chemical detection, decontamination and communications.
""We have identified many deficiencies within four segregated areas, and those are the areas that are funded by the Office of Justice programs,"" she said.
Both Krusic and Getter said they recognized terrorism was not a high probability in Wisconsin but added the equipment has many uses.
""This is for nuclear, biological and chemical; so that terrorism is just not one or another, it is a response to those areas,"" Krusic said.
Besides the most recent grants, the state will distribute an additional $360,000 in federal money to the state's 35 county hazardous material teams, $20,000 more than last month, Getter said.
""Hazardous material spills are something that occur daily in our state. I think last year we had over 600,"" she said. ""We realize this is an opportunity to get some money into communities to buy this protective equipment.\
