"Never before has Virginia embarked on such an aggressive and monumental multi-agency project as this," said Governor Warner. "Upon completion, 20 state agencies and countless localities will be linked by a cutting-age digital voice and data communications system.""
The Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS) is built on the foundation of the recognized needs for a shared, statewide, public safety-grade radio system that includes law enforcement mobile data, and facilitates interoperability between state and local police communications systems at the city or county level. STARS will replace the existing analog communications system used by the Virginia State Police and other state agencies with a system that integrates radio and wireless data communications.
STARS will include 130 transportable communication sites designed to be moved and placed into service anywhere within the commonwealth so as to provide state and local agencies with the additional capacity, interoperability and support for disaster-recovery operations or special events.
The project will also incorporate a digital microwave network that will interconnect land mobile radio, mobile data, telephone and alarm and control networks.
The Virginia State Police has been tasked with facilitating the creation and implementation of the STARS project.
"For the Virginia State Police, STARS is not just about finally replacing the department's 27-year-old, antiquated communications system," said Colonel W. Steve Flaherty, Virginia State Police superintendent. "This is about saving lives. A trooper's radio is his or her lifeline. When seconds count, so does efficient and clear communication for the injured motorist, crime victim or wounded trooper."
STARS will also provide each city and county government at least one interoperability connection to the system at no cost to the localities.
In 2004 the General Assembly, through House Bill 106, approved $159.3 million in bonds to fund the STARS project for the next two years.
The first phase of the project will be operational in the Central Virginia region by December 2005. Installation will be completed in seven phases across the commonwealth, with the project's culmination scheduled for September 2009.
