# Towns put homeland security grants to routine use



## Gil (Jun 15, 1998)

Towns put homeland security grants to routine use 
By NANCY COOK, Standard-Times staff writer

PETER PEREIRA/The Standard-Times 
Marion Fire Chief Richard J. Guerzoni shows the Sparky Hazard House, one of the items purchased with Homeland Security grants. 
When Marion received a $15,000 homeland security grant, $10,000 went toward the purchase of the Sparky Hazard House, a 2-foot-tall plastic dollhouse, with smoke and beeping sounds, that teaches schoolchildren about fire safety. 
"Hi, I'm Sparky the Fire Dog. Please pay attention to the hazard house presentation," said the house's sign. "It could save your life or that of your family."

The remaining $5,000 then went toward supplies, such as stickers, a Sparky the Dog costume and a smoke alarm DVD: equipment the Marion Fire Department said was necessary to teach fire prevention. 
"You might not think of hoses as homeland security, but terrorists strike with fires," said Fire Chief Richard J. Guerzoni. "If you can't handle day-to-day, you can't go much further. Before you go into the exotic, you need to make sure you can do the daily."

Increasingly, SouthCoast cities and towns are spending homeland security money on routine equipment, such fire trucks, spotlights, vests and fire safety materials. 
Westport, for instance, received $550,000 for a new ladder truck, and the Onset Fire Department got roughly $80,000 to buy large spotlights. Freetown -- which its own fire chief, Wayne Haskins, said "isn't a high terrorism zone"-- got $102,000 for breathing apparatus to help firefighters breathe better during a blaze. Dartmouth police got roughly $100,000 for radio equipment.

The state executive office of public safety discourages communities from spending homeland security grants on "everyday equipment," said spokesman Katie Ford. But local police and fire chiefs argue that often they have no choice; they need to upgrade basic equipment with any money available.

Previously, they had to appeal to town voters when they needed to buy equipment. 
Acushnet's annual budget for fire department equipment and repair was $5,000, according to Chief Kevin Gallagher. 
"We've never been able to provide gear for our call firefighters," said Westport Deputy Fire Chief Brian Legendre. "We've never had the funds in our budget, and there were never a lot of grants for the fire service. Since 9/11, a lot of grants have come down for fire." Before Westport received roughly $20,000 in homeland security money for firefighter equipment, each call firefighter paid $1,300 out of pocket for his or her own gear.

Although local officials say that much of the equipment is necessary and falls under the rubric of basic equipment or fire safety, "There's going to be some repercussions down the road if people look at all the money that's being spent," Chief Haskins said.

Safety net

Southeastern Massachusetts received $7.2 million in homeland security money in fiscal year 2004, but that total dropped dramatically to $4.3 million this year. Overall, the state received more money in 2005, with most of it going toward Boston or statewide training.

The money comes from the Department of Homeland Security, a federal agency created in the wake of 9/11. The federal government funnels this money to states, and Massachusetts, in turn, appropriates homeland security grants through several regional, geographically-based councils.

Fiscal year 2004's money went towards regional efforts such as EMS training, police communication and hospital training. Smaller pockets of money went to counties or individual departments: $24,935 for the Barnstable County Medical Response or $386,000 for a communication center for Bristol County.

A regional council, comprising 96 cities and towns, decides who in this geographical area receives homeland security money. Barnstable Fire Chief Robert Crosby heads the regional council, which includes representatives from Taunton, Fairhaven and Mattapoisett.

Although New Bedford is one of the larger cities in the region -- with the busiest port -- no one from New Bedford sits on the council as a permanent member, nor did the city receive any homeland security grants in the past two fiscal years. 
The regional council evaluates applications based on several factors, including a community's preparedness. It looks favorably on towns and cities that work together and agree to share equipment.

For example, the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, a regional police organization that extends from Seekonk to Cape Cod, was very successful in receiving grants. Roughly $375,000 was spent for dive equipment for the council: Viking dry suits, dive tanks, a boat and a "Video Ray ROV," that moves underwater like a submarine and that can map out and record hundreds of feet of the ocean landscape.

Since New Bedford does not belong to SEMLEC, it did not benefit from this grant -- although it is welcome to use the equipment, said Fairhaven Fire Chief and SEMLEC member, Gary Souza.

Because the New Bedford Police Department does not belong to SEMLEC or have any written mutual aid agreements with surrounding towns, it stands to lose with homeland security grants, several Southeast Regional Homeland Security Council members said. 
"I don't know if New Bedford's projects were regional in nature," said Chief Crosby. "New Bedford as an entity is not regional; it's New Bedford, whereas Nantucket is a town, county and an island."

risk factors

The mayor's outgoing chief-of-staff and homeland security guru, Michael K. McCormack, insists that, similar to its suburban neighbors, New Bedford is ready for a disaster.

The $1 million homeland security grant New Bedford received three years ago was used for the purchase of a boat and a mobile command center.

But a recent "report card" put forth by the 9/11 Commission, argued that communities and towns remain woefully unprepared. Many departments still don't have adequate radio equipment, a problem New York City firefighters faced when the Twin Towers collapsed. The federal government is still distributing money to cities and towns based on connections and status rather than risk, the report said.

State Sen. Marc R. Pacheco, member of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, plans to release a report next year detailing Massachusetts' preparedness. Many local police and fire departments remain understaffed, he said, a problem that has persisted since his committee released its last report in 2004.

And most disturbingly, he said, homeland security remains a fleeting, vague concept that citizens only consider when faced with an emergency such as the recent dam scare in Taunton.

"A lot of communities feel like homeland security is a federal responsibility," Sen. Pacheco said. "I get calls about equipment all the time, saying 'Do we need this stuff?' ... No, you don't need it until there's an emergency."

Contact Nancy Cook at [email protected]

This story appeared on Page A1 of The Standard-Times on December 11, 2005.


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2006)

I don't understand. Even after spending the grant money on PT shirts for police, the Commonwealth is still unprepared?


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