“You have a friend in me,” Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told attendees at the 78th Annual APCO International Conference & Expo during the closing luncheon on Wednesday, Aug. 22.

Before being elected to the Senate, Klobuchar was chief prosecutor for Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis and 45 suburbs. “I know first-hand the vital role our law enforcement and public safety officers serve in keeping our citizens safe,” she said.

She referenced the death of a police officer in St. Paul, Minn., and the collapse of the 35W bridge to explain the motivating factors behind her dedication to public safety, interoperability and standards in public safety communications.

Klobuchar was a supporter of the legislation that allocated the D Block spectrum to public safety, and she said that a bipartisan group in the Senate worked really hard to make the D Block available and to make sure grant programs are in place to “really get you to the next generation.”

She briefly discussed the creation of FirstNet to build and operate the national public safety broadband network and the announcement of the members of the FirstNet board earlier this week by Acting Secretary of Commerce Dr. Rebecca Blank. Klobuchar cited the announcement at the conference as evidence that the “influence of this forum is something to be proud of.”

“As a former prosecutor,” she said, “I believe we have to be as sophisticated as the crooks who break the law … and as sophisticated as those sending you information.”

“Thank you for the important work that you do. Keep it up,” Klobuchar told the public safety communications officials at the luncheon.