Mobile Command Center Ready to Help

Juan Reyes of the Union County Sheriff’s Department said, “If there’s a serious situation, if law enforcement or other emergency personnel are out in the field and there isn’t a ready center – we can bring mobile command out and allow them to have a central place where all information can be gathered.” The Union County Sheriff’s Department bought the unit about three years ago. Since then they have been able to help out Louisiana parishes that were hit by hurricanes, block off and work from areas affected by chemical leaks, among other disasters. And if disaster strikes, the mobile command unit can be up and running in five minutes. They can answer phone calls, write reports and deploy officers. The command center has radio and cell phone towers on top, also a satellite dish for internet and a surveillance camera that can be raised and has the ability to zoom in and out. Reyes said, “The computer, what you are looking at on the two monitors here is the video feed for the camera that is outside.” “An example would be a fire at a chemical plant. We boom up to 40 to 45 feet and maybe get a better look at what’s going in plant.” The trailer has a diesel generator for power and more than one gas tank so it can run for up to five days. It’s also designed to help out any other sheriff’s office that is in need. “We could map his server to ours so he’d have what he does in his sheriff’s office. Turn phones to whatever phone numbers he wanted. He’d have all the functions from his office in this trailer.”