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Town Purchases Emergency Protective Gear through Homeland Security Grant
Ingrid Mezo
Police Chief Greg Eyler said during his monthly report to Thurmont town board members on January 9 that the Thurmont Police Department had received emergency
preparedness equipment paid for by the Homeland Security Department.
Part of that equipment includes protective gear for all 10 Thurmont police officers, town staff, and board members. The gear includes a Tyvek suit, gas mask, and
heavy-duty betyl boots and gloves.
The $48,000 grant, which the police department received through the law enforcement terrorism prevention program through Homeland Security should help protect first
responders in case of a crisis, he said.
"We also have enough for the town employees, because they’re basically first
responders also when there is a problem in town," Eyler said.
Town staff has to go out immediately when there is a water, electric, sewer or other maintenance problem in the town to try and resolve the problem, he explained.
Eyler said that he plans to train police officers, staff and board members how to put on the protective gear sometime in February or March.
"I ordered large and extra large for everybody on the town board," Eyler said. He added that the suits could be a little loose and still serve their purpose.
But the protective gear will remain in storage until needed, and will not travel to the homes of town staff, police or board members, Eyler said.
"Later in the year, we’ll set up training for how to handle a disaster, but there’s still a lot of work [to be done with the town’s emergency preparedness plan,]"
he said. "It will take a while to set up. No plan is going to be perfect, but we want to make it as close to perfect as we can."
Eyler said he is working with the town’s fire and ambulance companies to incorporate their responsibilities in the plan.
Once the plan is ready, Eyler said will put notices out to citizens out in town to train residents what to do in case of an emergency.
The town’s police department also received a $90,000 digital radio grant, which came through Emergency Management in Frederick County.
"The whole county is going to switch over to digital radios," Eyler said. There are a lot of dead spots which cause communication problems using the older police
radios, which is a safety issue Eyler said.
"All we have to pay for is installation and programming for the new radios, which costs $7,400, and that’s it," Eyler said.
Eyler said that FBI statistics from January to November 2006 showed that 39 of the 41 killings of police officers throughout the nation involved a firearm.
"Police work is a dangerous thing, and we have to receive a lot of training," he said. "A lot of times we hear people think we just ride around in cars and wait for
something to happen. A lot of police work is reactive, but a lot of it is also proactive."
Eyler said he would hold another "Meet The Chief Night" sometime in February.
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