October 12, 2005
Press Release

Congressional Funding of Pegasus Program Benefits Virginia Law Enforcement

Thanks to the Congressional leadership of Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA), Chairman of the House Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations Subcommittee, the U. S. Department of Justice has recently awarded continuation funding for the Nationwide Pegasus Program, a nationwide Local-To-Local law enforcement information exchange program in which Virginia local law enforcement is taking a key leadership role.

Dr. Lee Colwell, President of the Pegasus Research Foundation, emphasized the important first responder role played by local law enforcement, noting that “Secure and reliable law enforcement voice and data interoperability are key to preparing for and responding to emergency events of all sizes—both man-made and terrorist events and natural disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Recent events make especially clear the crucial role that local law enforcement agencies nationwide play in maintaining public safety and order after a major disaster—and that being adequately prepared includes critical agencies having powerful interoperable data systems in place beforehand. Virginia Sheriffs, and especially the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office, have taken a key role in assuring the deployment of this technology in Virginia and nationwide.”

“For many years, Chairman Wolf has been in the forefront of Congressional supporters of law enforcement at all levels of government—local, state and Federal. As newer technologies have emerged, Chairman Wolf has been a particular advocate of interoperability for both law enforcement radio systems and law enforcement data systems. Congressional leadership exercised by Chairman Wolf and his Congressional colleagues in assuring Pegasus Program continuation funding mean that secure and reliable Pegasus law enforcement data communications services linking local law enforcement agencies in Virginia and elsewhere,” Dr. Colwell said.

Speaking in support of the Pegasus Program, Sheriff Mike Brown, Sheriff of Bedford County, Virginia, noted that “Chairman Wolf has long been one of the Nation’s strongest supporters of local law enforcement. Local law enforcement in Virginia, along with the rest of the Nation, needs interoperable data capabilities for day-to-day police work and for emerging regional and national events. In the aftermath of Katrina, local law enforcement agencies from all across the Nation were called upon to assist in the immediate recovery, underscoring the need for interoperable data solutions like the Pegasus Program, which operate seamlessly throughout the Nation, so that personnel from anywhere in the Nation can start working without delays for training and credentialing.”

Commenting on the Pegasus Program in a recent speech to the National Sheriffs’ Association, former U. S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, III, said, “I believe Pegasus represents an important national resource for law enforcement and homeland security.” General Meese went on to say that “This is precisely the kind of program that should be federally funded, because local law enforcement agencies do not have the resources to fund it themselves.”

Dr. Colwell also noted that “With continued support, Pegasus provides a basic tool that serves local agency needs for L2L law enforcement data communications. This is especially critical to those small and rural agencies where the need is the greatest because they have limited or few financial and information technology resources and little or no access to local agency data from other areas.”

About the Pegasus Program
The Pegasus Program is a non-federal multi-state immediate information sharing program designed by and for local law enforcement and first responders utilizing COTS technology. It is operated with US Department of Justice approved NIST standards by the Pegasus Research Foundation in coordination with the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA). Information on the Pegasus Program may be found at www.pegasusresearch.org.

About Pegasus Research Foundation
The Pegasus Research Foundation ("PRF") is a non-profit corporation created to work in coordination with the Nation’s Sheriffs, municipal police, fire departments, first responder, public health and critical infrastructure entities, to facilitate multi-state sharing of essential law enforcement and Homeland Security information. PRF's Executive Director is Dr. Lee Colwell, former Associate Director of the FBI, and a nationally recognized leader in local, State and federal law enforcement policy development and implementation. Information on PRF may be found at www.pegasusresearch.org.

The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office
The Pegasus Research Foundation has chosen the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office, a program participant, to be the first Virginia law enforcement agency to input data into the program. Officials from the Pegasus Research Foundation and the US Department of Justice will be in Bedford on the 26th of this month to evaluate the program, observe the input of information from the sheriff’s office to the Pegasus Program.

Sheriff Brown said; “I am honored to be a part of this critical effort involving this nationwide homeland security effort that will provide secure access to local law enforcement databases not otherwise available elsewhere. Any sheriff or chief who does not take advantage of this program is missing the boat, and shortchanging his agency and the community he or she serves.” Sheriff Brown added; “I am proud to say that the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office is out front on an initiative that is destined to be a benchmark for homeland security.”

Contact: Robin Sundquist – Admin Officer – 540.586.4800