million annually in addition to an annual maintenance contract
valued at $7 million, resulting in a total outlay to date by
this Commonwealth's taxpayers of nearly $800 million; and
WHEREAS, After years of budget hearing testimony by State
agency personnel citing deficiencies and safety concerns for
users of PA-STARNet, as well as an independent consultant's
report that the OpenSky technology developed by the
communication company was end-of-life, it was proposed to move
PA-STARNet from the Office of Administration to the Pennsylvania
State Police in 2012; and
WHEREAS, On September 18, 2013, the Pennsylvania State Police
testified before the Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness
Committee of the House of Representatives that weaknesses in
reliability and coverage prevented PA-STARNet from being a true
public safety grade system; and
WHEREAS, On September 18, 2013, the Pennsylvania State Police
testified before the Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness
Committee of the House of Representatives that it was working to
select a new vendor to transition the system from its current
platform to a P25 public safety grade platform; and
WHEREAS, Most recently PA-STARNet was proven unreliable and
ineffective in the search for the criminal who ambushed and
murdered one police officer and gravely injured another; and
WHEREAS, The system could not provide the fixes needed during
the manhunt to provide and extend radio coverage, and after-
action reports described the manhunt radio situation as the
worst-case scenario for PA-STARNet; and
WHEREAS, Continued delay of a solution to this problem puts
both law enforcement and the citizenry in imminent danger;
therefore be it
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