[Scan-DC] Maryland Launches Nation's Largest Mobile Command Center

[Alan Henney]

http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=&id=31576
Maryland Launches Nation's Largest Mobile Command Center
Posted: July 14th, 2006 01:42 PM PDT


Shawn Huddleston/The Capital
Maryland's Mobile Command Vehicle is the largest of its kind in the
nation.
VANESSA FRANKO
Courtesy of The Annapolis Capital

The new state police Mobile Incident Command Vehicle has a
turbo-charged 600-horsepower diesel engine, a conference room and
rooftop observation deck.

It's equipped with radar, satellite and microwave communication
systems - plus a microwave oven and a coffee maker to keep its
operators awake.

At its unveiling in Annapolis yesterday, the vehicle's many amenities
even prompted Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to ask, "Does it fly?"

It may not have wings, but the $1.15 million, 56-foot-long unit is the
largest single-unit command vehicle in the country.

"It can literally replace a police station or a state police barrack,"
said Col. Thomas E. Hutchins, secretary of the Department of State
Police.

Ready for manmade disasters, or natural ones, the command vehicle can
come to the rescue of local law enforcement agencies by improving
communication between them.

Department of Transportation Secretary Robert Flannigan said a recent
tanker fire on Interstate 95 revealed communication troubles among
various jurisdictions.

"This is the kind of facility that you want to be available at a scene
like that," he said.

Col. Hutchins said the unit also is compatible with the national
incident management system.

The vehicle will be stationed at the Waterloo Barrack in Jessup in
Howard County. A cross between a tractor-trailer and a tour bus, it
resembles a G.I. Joe supertoy.

There's a flat screen on the exterior, as well as a fold-out canopy
for outdoor briefings with larger groups of people.

Inside, it still has that new car smell and is chock full of
computers, sleek black-flecked counters and dark wood cabinets.

Kingsley Coach of Minnesota built the vehicle, and the onboard
technology was put in by Bickford Industries in Chantilly, Va.

Paul C. Bickford said his company has supplied the technology for
television station trucks for more than two decades. The Mobile
Incident Command Vehicle is the third emergency management vehicle the
company has produced. The other two are in Arlington and Loudoun
counties in Virginia.

Several other communities are getting similar mobile command centers.

Last August, Anne Arundel County unveiled a similar vehicle, the
40-foot-long Mobile Command and Communications Unit built by
Parole-based ARINC. The $820,000 vehicle was put to use almost
immediately when county workers went to Louisiana to aid in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

However, Mr. Flannigan said the state police vehicle is primarily for
Marylanders.

"I hope we never have to use it," Col. Hutchins said.

Published July 13, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

Copyright © 2006 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.

Republished with permission of The Capital.


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