County Prepares to Take Command in a Crisis
Hoping to better prepare county law enforcement agencies for a terrorist incident or natural disaster, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department rolled out two mobile command trailers Wednesday.
The custom 53-foot expandable trailers will be used as communication centers during terrorist acts, civil unrest, earthquakes, floods or major fires.
The trailers, which together cost $1.75 million, were ordered before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and are ready to be deployed. “I think 9/11 shows what can happen if you don’t have something like this in place,†Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jon Fleischman said.
“As we’ve seen in New York City, things can get crazy in a hurry. They didn’t have the in- frastructure necessary, so they had to commandeer a post office for their command center. The whole goal is to be prepared for the unexpected.â€
The command and communication centers will be made available to all Orange County police departments and agencies such as the Orange County Fire Authority.
“In case of a major fire, the Orange County Fire Authority could establish a perimeter around the fire, communicate with hospitals about the number of injured people and also talk to John Wayne Airport about a possible hazard to airplanes,†Fleischman said.
A 50-inch exterior plasma screen can give visual aid to personnel outside the trailer.
“You can do like John Madden football,†Fleischman said. “You write on a monitor and show people outside how you want them deployed.â€
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