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Police, Fire and Public Safety Committee meets

<span>CHESTER -- The City of Chester Police, Fire and EMA Committee met at Chester City Hall on Wednesday, with EMA Coordinator Charlie Bargman II providing an update on a recent training class he attended.</span>

<span>Bargman said he attended a class titled "Command and General General Staff Functions For Local Incident Management Teams," which was sponsored by the Illinois Fire Service Institute.</span>

<span>According to the Illinois Fire Service website, the five-day course is "activity intensive" and designed to prepare emergency response personnel to manage large, complex incidents effectively.</span>

<span>"The focus of the course is to enhance the skills necessary to operate as a team in various Command and General Staff positions and to promote a better understanding of team operations through application during various simulations," the course description said.</span>

<span>"If we have a major event, it takes all parties to get involved," Bargman said. "We need to all work together."</span>

<span>Bargman said the city's emergency sirens will be undergoing maintenance this month, and mentioned that October is an active month for severe weather.</span>

<span>Bargman also updated the committee on programming two emergency management radios to receive fire department traffic. He said there have been problems with police officers not being able to hear and respond to traffic on certain frequencies.</span>

<span>Bargman said he received a $250 quote from Warner Communications to program the radios.</span>

<span>"I'm going to look into programming them myself using the software that we have," Bargman said. "I thought that price was a bit steep."</span>

<span>With Chester Fire Chief Marty Bert absent, Chester Police Chief Ryan Coffey capped the 25-minute meeting with his own report.</span>

<span>After mentioning the recent Randolph County Economic Summit in Evansville, Coffey said he has recommended to the Chester Chamber of Commerce that the City of Chester website include links to the local school websites and public safety information - both police and fire.</span>

<span>"Public safety is an important aspect to the community," Coffey said.</span>

<span>Coffee also updated the committee on the active shooter training presentation at Chester High School on Sept. 26.</span>

<span>Coffey said 63 staff members from the city's schools attended and he would continue to work with Chester Grade School staff members through November and December before moving on to Chester High School and then the parochial schools in St. Mary's Catholic and St. John Lutheran.</span>

<span>"It's all focusing on the first three to six minutes from identifying an active shooter to the first response (from law enforcement)," Coffey said.</span>