Patrol boat among many homeland security buys

Middlesex County officials will use a $1.65 million federal grant to buy a patrol boat, computer equipment and other supplies designed to improve security in the area.

The county’s 12-member Homeland Security Implementation Committee came up with a list of allocations, which are being funded with an annual grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The purchases will help outfit emergency personnel in the county’s 25 towns with “the most up-to-date tools and technologies to respond to the broadest range of possible crisis situations,” according to county Freeholder Christopher Rafano, who sits on the committee.

The 28-foot patrol boat, which will be manned and maintained by the Perth Amboy Police Department, is being added to a fleet that includes two boats purchased through a 2004 federal grant. The boats are used to patrol county waterways, which run through 11 municipalities.

The county will also purchase a command post trailer and tow vehicle that will compliment the Mobile Special Operations Unit put into service last year. Officials said the trailer will enable the county Office of Emergency Management to provide simultaneous command post capabilities at several scenes in the event of a large-scale emergency.

Computer hardware and software will be provided to all municipalities in the county as part of the visual intelligence system that allows first-responders and domestic preparedness planners to view aerial imagery of the county. The software has the ability to measure area and distance, as well as building sizes, when planning for an emergency response.

Other purchases include a firefighting foam trailer to supplement specialized firefighting suppression equipment; mass casualty equipment and anti-theft devices for ambulances and other emergency vehicles; computer equipment for county emergency management and public health departments; hazardous materials monitoring equipment; and a van, trailer and protective equipment for the county’s Special Operations Response Team.

“We will never know when or where a large-scale emergency will occur,” Rafano said, “but we have to make sure that we are in the best position to prevent or respond to any type of crisis.”