Emergency workers, law officers getting more training, equipment
There have been permanent changes in the way area first responders and law enforcement officials conduct business since Sept. 11, officials said.
John Brown, Chattanooga Airport Authority chief of police, said public servants feel a heightened sense of responsibility.
“We are trying to balance serving the public with the need for increased security,” Chief Brown said. “We want the least amount of intrusion into people’s lives.”
From the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, to the Hamilton County Justice Building, to the equipment standing by in the bays of Chattanooga Fire Department stations, there are changes citizens can see, officials said.
A citizen attending a County Commission meeting in the Hamilton County Courthouse or General Sessions Court at the Hamilton County Justice Building must pass through security checkpoints and magnetometers.
“A lot of this was in the works long before 9-11,” said Hamilton County Sheriff John Cupp, whose department is responsible for security in both courthouses. “But that incident helped make it all come together.”
Private security guards have been hired to augment the deputies assigned to security, Sheriff Cupp said.
“I don’t mind going through this,” said Lee Miller, who was on his way to Sessions Court. “It doesn’t take much time, and I think everybody feels safer.”
The changes at the Chattanooga Fire Department are more subtle, officials said.
Fire Chief Jim Coppinger said the biggest changes in his department have been in the areas of training and, to a lesser extent, equipment.
Twenty-nine fire department employees have gone to an advanced school in New Mexico to learn about terrorist bombings, and 14 more are scheduled to go, he said.
Also, 25 fire department staffers have gone to schools in Anniston, Ala., dealing with weapons of mass destruction and chemical agents.
“We have coming up an offer for some radiological training in Reno, Nev.,” Chief Coppinger said. “The great thing is that there is no expense to the taxpayers here. The federal government is paying for it.”
Tax dollars are, however, paying for a new hazardous-materials truck, due for delivery the first of 2003, officials said. The truck now in use dates from the 1970s, he said.
“It’s sorely needed,” Chief Coppinger said.
Officer Craig Joel, a spokesman for the Chattanooga Police Department, said his organization’s mission is the same as it was before the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The duties we do now are the same as before the towers fell,” he said.
Officer Joel said there is an increased focus on training to deal with biological and chemical weapons.
He also said police are participating in more organized committees and subcommittees with other area emergency responders.
Don Allen, director of Hamilton County Emergency Services, said since 9-11 things are different, such as searching people who come to the Riverbend Festival, the air show at Lovell Field and the county fair.
Mr. Allen said there always has been a great deal of coordination among different emergency services agencies here, but now it’s even better.
“Since Sept. 11 the cohesiveness of all these people working together is even greater,” he said. “People are checking their egos and attitudes at the door of those meetings.”
The plans to keep the population safe don’t recognize state or county boundaries, officials said.
David Ashburn, Walker County, Ga., emergency services director, said his agency is making plans for a mass-casualty drill this fall involving hundreds of people.
“We are the only Hazmat team in Northwest Georgia,” Mr. Ashburn said. “We are working to get federal and state money to increase our capabilities.”
“A lot of this was in the works long before 9-11. But that incident helped make it all ” come together. — John Cupp, Hamilton County sheriff