The Local Government Academy’s 2010 Road to Excellence Conference, “Beyond Mutual Aid: Intergovernmental Cooperation, Public Safety & Homeland Security,” will focus on intergovernmental cooperation solutions for the modern challenge of providing public safety services, including police, fire and emergency medical systems. This is a topic of great interest in southwestern Pennsylvania, where neighboring municipalities often find themselves with shared destinies yet with differing economic situations and capabilities for providing public safety services to their citizens. As these services become more costly for local governments, determining which intergovernmental cooperation solutions best maintain or improve levels of services becomes of key interest to citizens in the region.
Register today for the 2010 Road to Excellence Conference, scheduled for Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at the Sheraton Station Square.
Intergovernmental cooperation can be beneficial for communities of any size. Speakers at the Road to Excellence Conference will have first-hand experience with how to identify and approach the problems facing police, fire and emergency service departments in their various forms. Speakers will direct participants to the types of assistance that are available for communities looking at intergovernmental cooperation solutions and will share their experiences with the lessons they learned by participating in intergovernmental cooperation projects, giving participants an insight as to the types of approaches that have the potential for yielding the most successful results. Speakers will also address the new interstate mutual aid agreement and the implications of this policy for all municipalities in the Commonwealth.
Additionally, conference presenters will examine how local, state and federal governments must work together to prepare for the threat of domestic violence and terrorism that exists in every community. The relationship between local public safety services and the criminal justice system will also be scrutinized for opportunities for intergovernmental solutions to increase the safety and security of people and property.
Finally, the conference will present the case as to how intergovernmental cooperation and public safety services can maintain and propel southwestern Pennsylvania as a national leader in safety and quality of life. Public safety agencies have a responsibility to the communities they serve to work with one another to develop a standard of coverage that ensures proper protection, necessary equipment and appropriately trained personnel in order to respond to emergency situations. For example, if a municipality contains an industrial facility, adequate preparation requires an intergovernmental approach be taken in order to marshal sufficient resources to respond to potential emergencies. Ongoing evaluations such as this allow public safety agencies to acknowledge their capabilities and determine how to best structure a thorough and consolidated approach to providing public safety.
Intergovernmental solutions can create stronger entities that encourage public safety personnel to develop a higher level of training, knowledge and the skills necessary to truly serve the citizens of a given community or region. By attending the Road to Excellence Conference on June 1, you will receive knowledge and insights onto how your specific public safety service can better work with other agencies to develop intergovernmental solutions that provide the best level of protection possible for the citizens of southwestern Pennsylvania.
