April 16, 2008

GLOBAL THREATS REQUIRE LOCAL VIGILANCE

The Erie County Legislature earlier this month approved the county's acceptance of three federal grants totaling more than three million dollars to continue the implementation of a program to enhance the ability of Erie County to manage emergency, disaster and terrorist situations.

The New York State Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Task Force has agreed to the investment of more than $3 million in federal resources to provide funding for personnel and the purchase of necessary technical equipment so that the Erie County Department of Emergency Services will be able to meet the goals and objectives of effective disaster preparedness.

Three separate programs will be funded with these grants: the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), the State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) and the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program (LETPP). Erie County's success in securing these federal funds results from an effective collaboration among three levels of government - federal, state and local (county) - all working together to protect the safety of our citizens.

The harsh reality of 9/11 demonstrated that the people who initially arrive at a terrorist scene and take command are first responders - our local police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel. It could be a member of your family or neighbor who is an EMT, police officer or volunteer firefighter who responds.

For this reason, it is imperative that federal resources are brought home to communities like ours. In the United States, homeland security cannot be achieved without the full cooperation and effort of our state and local first responders, as well as the foresight of federal, state and county policymakers who craft their budgets. This great effort calls for the support of a very high level of training against any and all types of terrorist threats, whether bioterrorism; bombs transported on motor vehicles, trains, planes and boats; dirty bombs that disperse highly toxic chemical agents; or any other conceivable means of doing us, as Americans, harm.

Our local responders, ever vigilant to the manmade threat of terrorism, must also maintain a high degree of preparedness for both natural disasters and accidents. This tri-fold demand for preparedness requires the strategic collaboration of all three levels of government - federal, state and local - sharing the common mission to ensure that our first responders have received the training and equipment to ensure both the public's safety as well as their own.

If large-scale accidents, natural and manmade disasters place our first responders in harm's way, the least we can do in government is to provide the latest in training and in technological advances. As Chair of the Erie County Legislature's Public Safety Committee, I want to ensure our community that we are doing everything possible to protect our neighborhoods from global threats, natural disasters and major accidents by giving our first responders in Erie County the tools and training they need to get the job done.

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