Homeland Security Meeting Coming to Wheaton

Representatives from first-responder agencies, the education community, private businesses, the public and other groups from around northeastern Illinois will provide input into the state's new homeland security strategy during a town hall meeting on June 29 in Wheaton.

The meeting, the last in a series of eight held across Illinois since last fall, are part of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency's "Illinois Homeland Security Vision 2020" initiative to lay out revisions in the state's strategy to deal with current and emerging threats and risks. The program also focuses on disaster response. Input collected during the series of meetings will be presented at a final summit in Springfield later this year.

Vision 2020 is similar to the process Illinois undertook in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 terroist attacks. That process resulted in the development of a statewide homeland security program.

The Wheaton meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 421 N. County Farm Road. Anyone interested in participating should register at http://cpsj.uis.edu or by calling 877-864-7427.