MIDDLETOWN –– U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy yesterday delivered $282,000 to the town’s police for the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for their new station. The federal money will allow officers to communicate with other police and fire departments in the area.

“It’s a system the U.S. government is asking that all law enforcement move toward as a result of 9/11,” Chief Anthony M. Pesare said yesterday.

In addition to a general upgrade from the department’s current communications system, the station will have an interagency data system –– accessible through radios in the police cars, the dispatch center and portable radios –– that will enable an officer to query databases to determine if the person they are pulling over has had any prior connection with departments in Newport County.

“It’ll be a regional approach to keep the officer safe so he will know who he’s dealing with,” Pesare said.

Previously, officers had to call dispatch, who would then call a specified department. Pesare said the new system will be “much more efficient for the officer on the road.”

The new communications systems will be up and running in conjunction with the building of the new station on Valley Road, scheduled to be finished in a little more than a year. Pesare said the construction is “going really well,” with the foundation probably finished by the end of the week.

“I would estimate by next spring or next summer the communication equipment will be going in,” Pesare said.

The department hired communications experts to map out how the system would work in the department, and formed a preliminary design before applying for the grant.

“We were confident once Congressman Kennedy’s office called us and said that he would make this a top priority,” Pesare said, adding he was “ecstatic” about the approval.

Kennedy was quoted in a news release saying, “It is essential that we equip our law enforcement professionals with the best equipment and most advanced technology so that they can ensure their own safety while keeping our streets, and its inhabitants, safe and secure.”

Yesterday morning about 25 people –– including retired and active officers, new recruits to the station and members of the Town Council –– were present for the official grant announcement.

“I’m really most happy for our officers because they’re on the road every day and they’re going to benefit from it, and anything we can do to keep them as safe as possible is great and we should do it,” Pesare said.

cthompson@projo.com