The Camden County Freeholder Board authorized numerous grant-funded purchases and projects for the Department of Public Safety during its regular monthly freeholder meeting on June 16.
“The Camden County Department of Public Safety has worked hard to secure grant funding to benefit the residents of Camden County,” said Freeholder Rodney Greco, liaison the Camden County Department of Public Safety. “Each grant they receive allows them to acquire needed safety equipment and training without negatively impacting the county budget.”
The funding will purchase the following:
• New Jersey State Police hazardous materials emergency preparedness training grant
This $44,000 grant will provide training for Camden County first responders, (Police, Fire and EMS) in hazmat response, awareness, and decontamination;
• Emergency operations center grant application
This $250,000 grant will provide funding to upgrade the emergency operations center and its communications technology to a state of the art facility, which is used by municipal, county, state, and federal agencies, as well as private utility entities, during emergency events;
• Purchase of traffic camera monitors
New 60” monitors will allow the communications center dispatchers to view live traffic camera feeds from the state Department of Transportation. These cameras are on high traffic areas such as Route 76, 295, 42, 70, 73, 30, and 38. When an incident occurs the cameras will enable the dispatchers to pinpoint locations faster thus getting police, fire, and EMS resources to the scene faster. The live camera feeds are being provided free of charge through a partnership with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. The communications center has worked with the DVRPC on an Incident Management Task Force promoting highway traffic safety for first responders;
• MDC docking station and mount
A Homeland Security Program grant funded this purchase, which will enable park police to receive and transmit calls and sensitive law enforcement information via mobile data computers (MDC) in their patrol vehicles;
• Homeland Security grant and port security grant program — mobile ventilation vehicle
A $235,000 grant will allow the county to purchase a vehicle and ventilation apparatus as a multijurisdictional project that will provide large-scale ventilation capabilities to all types of emergencies including CBRNE/hazardous materials incidents, fires, and mass casualty rehabilitation operations. It will be housed in Camden County’s Westmont Fire Station #15–1 which will enable rapid response to any incident in the county and/or region;
• EMS MDC equipment
A Homeland Security grant in the amount of $8,800 will allow the installation of Emergency Medical Services Mobile Data Computer Mounts, funded through the FY09 and FY10 Homeland Security Grant Funds. This will close a capability gaps between EMS, the fire service, and law enforcement;
• Field Communication MDC
This is a Mobile Data Computer for the Mobile Operations Command Post that the communications center deploys to major incidents like the 12 alarm fire in Camden on June 9. By having mobile data computers in the command post, it enables the dispatchers to have a computer link to the dispatch computer back in Lindenwold thus having the ability to see the same things that the dispatchers in the communications center are seeing. The MDC replaces a lot of hand written notes and increases the efficiency of field operations tenfold; and
• Web CAD
The Web Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) is an application that will allow Camden County public safety agencies, including emergency operating centers, to view the communication center’s computer aided dispatch system. This application can be used in the field through mobile data computers, or in other locations in the event of a large-scale incident or disaster.
“I commend the work of the men and women in the Camden County Department of Public Safety,” said Freeholder Greco. “Their dedication to the safety of the residents of this county is unwavering, and I am proud to be their liaison on the freeholder board.”
The Camden County Department of Public Safety is comprised of the Park Police, Office of the Fire Marshal, Office of Emergency Management, County-wide Communication Center and the Youth Center. For more information, visit www.camdencounty.com
