For Immediate Release
April 19, 2005
Please Contact: Colin Durrant (617)722-1650 or
Dalié Jiménez, 617-722-1650

(Boston, MA) The region’s ability to respond to homeland security threats is hampered by inadequate response plans said regional law enforcement leaders and the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition at a State House hearing today. They are joining Senator Jarrett T. Barrios, the Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, and Representative David Linsky in pushing a bill to encourage comprehensive mutual aid agreements between cities and towns to better prepare for natural disasters and homeland security threats.

“When it comes to protecting our citizens from a homeland security threat or natural disaster, we can never be too careful,” said Senator Barrios. “Reform is long overdue. It’s time for Massachusetts to become better prepared to protect our streets and neighborhoods in the awful chance a tragedy should occur.”

Mutual aid agreements – which spell out protocols for how emergency responders work together across municipal boundaries – were identified by the Department of Homeland Security as a key component to the effective coordination of emergency resources across jurisdictional and functional lines. Unlike other states, Massachusetts law only specifically addresses mutual aid agreements between police and fire departments, ignoring the role of health officials, public works departments, emergency management departments, and other municipal departments can play in responding to a tragedy.

"Major emergencies and disasters require services that go beyond the traditional services that the Commonwealth's fire and police services provide. Public Health, EMS, Public Works, Building Structure Inspection and Emergency Management services will also be required,” said Charlie Coggins, President of the Massachusetts Association of Emergency Management Professionals. “There are also two very important projects currently being worked on in Massachusetts that require a high dependence on comprehensive mutual aid: the implementation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), a federally mandated event management system, and the development of a multidisciplinary/multi-jurisdictional resource database.”

Also testifying at the hearing were Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau, Chairman of the Northeast Regional Homeland Security Council; Bill Hadley, the Public Works Director for Lexington and a member of the Northeast Regional Homeland Security Council; and Mary Clark, Program Manager for the Advanced Practice Center for Emergency Preparedness at the Cambridge Public Health Department

In 2004 report, the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition found that “after September 11th, municipalities cannot afford a lack of coordination across a broad spectrum of departments.” The report, entitled “Expanding Mutual Aid,” recommended that legislators should move quickly to enact legislation to facilitate the creation of comprehensive mutual aid agreements throughout the Commonwealth.

"The Metro Mayors Coalition has been at the forefront of making sure that communities coordinate across municipal boundaries, and that departments collaborate across disciplines," said Mayor Tom Ambrosino of Revere, the Chairman of the Metro Mayors Coalition. "We cannot be prepared if we let artificial boundaries delay our response to disaster or tragedy. Without the proper legal framework, municipalities cannot work effectively together to respond to natural or man-made disasters." "

Senate Bill 1334 updates Massachusetts law to specifically authorize comprehensive mutual aid agreements among municipalities for the provision of personnel and resources across jurisdictional lines. It will allow communities to sign agreements that cover a wide range of municipal departments, including public health, public works, and building inspection.

"We need to prepare now, not after a major disaster, so that our communities can work together when a hurricane hits, when we suffer a flu pandemic, or in the event of a major terrorist attack," said Linsky, the bill’s House sponsor. "We should create a legal framework that will allow municipalities to share equipment, personnel, and expertise when the worst happens."

Specifically, the mutual aid bill provides the following:
• Empowers local officials to adopt mutual aid agreements through a streamlined process, and broadens the categories of mutual aid beyond fire and police departments.
• Outlines the key components that would be included in voluntary mutual aid agreements, such as methods of activation and decisions about whether mutual aid will be reimbursed by requesting communities.
• Clarifies that the right of indemnification shall travel with municipal employees who are providing mutual aid to neighboring communities.
• Ensures that municipal employees continue to be protected by governmental liability protection even when providing services outside their home communities.
• Allows participating municipalities to grant recognition, authority, licenses, or permits to assisting public employees involved in mutual aid.
• Ensures that the new law does not affect existing police and fire department agreements.
 

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