DeLauro Celebrates Groundbreaking Ceremony for North Branford Police Station and Emergency Operations Center
NORTH BRANFORD, CT — Today, Congresswoman DeLauro extended her congratulations to the Town of North Branford as they broke ground on what will be the community’s new Emergency Operations Center, a project for which she secured $1 million in the Fiscal Year 2022 Homeland Security appropriations bill.
“I worked to bring community project funding back to the federal appropriations process to support local priorities like the new Emergency Operations Center here in North Branford,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. “In 2020, when the generator failed, and North Branford’s Emergency Operation Center lost all radio, landline, and cellular communications during Storm Isaias – it was a glaring wake-up call. As a designated American Red Cross Regional Shelter location, North Branford’s emergency response capabilities are key to securing our communities. This new state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center will translate into greater capabilities, better response and recovery coordination, and a more resilient safer community. Today’s groundbreaking has been a long-time coming for this community and I am proud to have been able to include federal funding for this effort in the Fiscal Year 2022 federal funding bill. I am excited to see this project underway and am looking forward to celebrating the ribbon-cutting when the construction is complete.”
“We appreciate and thank U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro for her pivotal role in the successful appropriation of $1 million in funding from The Department of Homeland Security which will enable us to build a new state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center within the new police facility,” said North Branford Police Chief Kevin Halloran. “The center will provide us the space and technology to better coordinate sever weather events, critical incidents and public events in cooperation with our public safety partners including Telecommunications, Fire Department, Emergency Medical Responders, Department of Public Works, as well as provide more efficient communications with our state and federal partners.”
"This project represents true collaboration between state, local and federal officials to get it off the ground," said North Branford Town manager Michael Downes. "We are thrilled to see this new state-of-the-art facility get underway, providing our dedicated police department with the resources they need to protect and serve North Branford residents, and providing a facility that will better coordinate the services of all our public safety personnel during incidents and events."
The current Emergency Operations Center is co-located within the North Branford Police Department Police Commission and Training Room. This facility does not offer pre-set stations or any electronic capabilities for proper coordination and response to emergencies which put the Town and the region at risk.
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