By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis – The city of St. Louis has become the first major U.S. city to get connected to a new national counterterrorism communications network.
The system will provide all 50 states, the District of Columbia and major cities with real-time access to intelligence data and other security-related information.
Homeland Security Undersecretary Frank Libutti says the system will be dynamic. "Our great expectation is that we not only push information out, but that we welcome information back into Homeland Security so that we can connect the tactical dots in terms of what's going on across the country that may be a threat of terrorism," he said. "This is a two-way street big time."
Missouri was the first state to create its own state-level homeland security office in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.