| On April 8, Chief Ron Leminelle and Lt. Mike Hapstak along with Ex-Chief and Township Emergency Management Director Pat Kenny, met with Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, Port Authority of NY/NJ Deputy Executive Director and former State Senator and Assemblyman Bill Baroni and Mayor McCormac at Town Hall where the Governors office and the PANYNJ awarded $10,000 in Civic and Community funding to the Woodbridge Police Department and Township fire and emergency response agencies. These funds will bolster Township emergency communications systems and first response capabilities.
"September 11 brought home the realization that New Jersey's first response agencies – police, fire, emergency management and EMS - must be able to communicate effectively with each other," said Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno. "The Governor's Office, in concert with the Port Authority of NY/NJ, is working with municipal first responders across the state to provide funding to purchase the tools, equipment and technology needed to ensure fast and effective response in times of emergency. This funding will help Woodbridge Township's first responders meet this important goal and ultimately result in increased public safety."
"The Port Authority of NY/NJ welcomes the opportunity to partner with municipal first responders and emergency management operations to keep critical components of our infrastructure safe for those who use them every day," said Deputy Executive Director Baroni. "We are grateful for the commitment of our neighbors in Woodbridge, and I commend them for their hard work."
"The most important and crucial responsibility of township government is protecting public safety during times of crises," Mayor McCormac said. "To make certain we achieve the best system available, we have put together a team of police, emergency management, and radio communications experts to develop and implement an advanced police emergency management radio communications system. The funding provided by the Port Authority of NY/NJ and the Office of the Governor will assist the WPD equip township emergency responders with new, state-of-the-art digital radios that inter-connect all of our emergency response agencies."
Mayor McCormac noted that the Port Authority NY/NJ grant will assist Woodbridge Township (the sixth largest municipality in the state of New Jersey) to advance its comprehensive police/EMS radio communications system that became operational in 2011. The state-of-the-art public safety communications system effectively connects the WPD, township fire departments and EMS, and local government services (Office of Emergency Management, Department of Public Works, and the Department of Health and Senior Services) during routine, emergency and/or crisis events. The Trunked Radio Communication System replaced separate aging and obsolete radio systems installed in 1978 at the various township communication and dispatch centers (police, fire, EMS). The trunked radio system integrates WPD, fire, EMS, and public safety agencies via common radio communications and stands as the cornerstone to link neighboring municipal police, fire and EMS via a shared-service system with the Woodbridge network. The WPD communications system is a trunked digital simulcast system which operates on seven frequencies at 500 MHz licensed exclusively for Woodbridge Township.
Woodbridge Police Director Robert Hubner said the Woodbridge Police Department receives more than 100,000 calls each year for service and emergency response. "The key to effective police and emergency management response is a radio communications system capable of allowing police, fire, emergency management, and local government agencies to effectively talk to each other at all times, particularly during an emergency or disaster-related event," Hubner said.
The nine Woodbridge Township fire departments, three EMS districts, Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Public Works which will benefit from the Port Authority of NY/NJ first responder grant include the Woodbridge Township Fire Officers Association; Woodbridge Township Mutual Aid Commission; Woodbridge Fire Department; Port Reading Fire Company #1; Keasbey Fire Department; Avenel Fire Department; Fords Fire Company #1; Hopelawn Engine Company #1; Iselin Fire Company #1; Iselin Fire Department District 11; Colonia Fire Department; Woodbridge Township Ambulance & Rescue Squad; Port Reading Volunteer First Aid Squad; Avenel/Colonia First Aid Squad; and the Woodbridge Township Office of Emergency Management. |
