Inside Bay Area news
THE California Highway Patrol has some new toys to play with, thanks to $6.4 million worth of U.S. homeland defense funds.
That amount bought the agency two “unsinkable” military-type boats, nine modern mobile-command centers and two additional homeland-defense-type planes -- all of which will be kept in the Bay Area. How about that? A government agency that didn’t waste federal homeland security money.
The CHP will use the boats to patrol Bay Area bridges instead of chugging along on Caltrans barges, and the new tools can help regional coverage on a daily basis. But the agency sees the bigger picture looming in the form of potential disasters and terrorist attacks since it is in charge of protecting state chain-of-command officials, particularly the governor.
This was a prime motive for the new gear. In case of an emergency, the governor and other officials leave Sacramento by boat and reach one of the mobile-command centers safely. When the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occurred, then-Gov. Gray Davis was whisked from Sacramento but there was no plan as to where to put him. Davis wound up at a law enforcement academy in Yolo County.
The CHP said it now can expand secret response plans. The boats can also perform water rescue, such as in case of a major levee breach, and can deliver huge teams of officers or hazardous materials units; the high-tech vehicles will greatly improve communication among different commanders -- even if all telephone equipment in the area is out of service; the planes can enhance overall rescue operations. How the CHP could use its new tools seems somewhat endless, but so are disaster scenarios -- everything from terrorists to nature.
Nevertheless, we have to remember that, based on previous events, we can’t count on immediate federal assistance in case of a disaster. The CHP’s new gear is merely a step toward a securer future. We still have to shore up most vulnerable areas, such as the ports, and communication between private and public agencies needs a lot of improvement. Overall coordination between emergency agencies is virtually non-existent and must be addressed.
But at least positive steps are being made. CHP’s purchases are an example of the right way to use homeland security funds.
Copyright 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers