CODEY SENDS 178 ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL TO NEW ORLEANS

Deployment Will Allow Previously Deployed New Jersey Officers to Return Home;
Will Continue New Jersey’s Unprecedented Effort for New Orleans

(TRENTON) – Directed by Acting Governor Richard J. Codey, the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management sent 148 additional police officers and medical support personnel to New Orleans this morning, and will send an expected 30 decontamination personnel on Thursday.

“No other state is helping New Orleans the way New Jersey is,” Codey said. “No other state has set up a self-sufficient police station to lead the emergency services for an entire section of that great city. New Jersey also stands ready to help the areas affected by Hurricane Rita, as soon as those states request our help. None of this would be possible without New Jersey’s first responders, who are among the best in the nation.”

Over the next few days, the expected total of 178 police officers and decontamination technicians will settle into the self-contained base camp for New Jersey’s “Operation LEAD” – the name given to New Jersey’s unprecedented effort to handle police and other emergency services for New Orleans’ Second Police District and the surrounding region.

The new deployment will allow most of the 173 police officers and decontamination technicians who left New Jersey on September 18 and 19 to return home.

“Operation LEAD” stands for “Louisiana Emergency Assistance Deployment.” The officers leaving this week represent state, county and local departments from counties including Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Mercer, Morris, Ocean and Union.

“As we have witnessed during previous deployments, New Jersey's first responders have made a significant impact in Louisiana,” said Attorney General Peter C. Harvey. “It’s a testament to their training and character that they have been able to help the state and its citizens, and we are grateful for their courage, selflessness and dedication. We extend them our thanks as we do to our officers who are now heading into the disaster zone. We clearly have high expectations as well for their performance and their safe return.”

Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of New Jersey State Police and Director of the State Office of Emergency Management, said, “New Jersey is responding to this disaster in a truly unprecedented way, and the folks back home have a lot to be proud of. New Jersey’s entire first responder community is also standing ready to help the areas affected by Hurricane Rita. Our responsibility at the State Office of Emergency Management is to make sure New Jersey is not left unprotected by having too many personnel deploy from any one part of the state.”

The week’s effort is the latest of several deployments by the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management to aid the states of Louisiana and Mississippi in their hurricane recovery efforts.

The previous deployments were as follows:

• On September 3, the State office of Emergency Management sent to Louisiana five water rescue teams comprised of 34 personnel from New Jersey Task Force One (the state’s multi-purpose search and rescue team), the New Jersey State Police, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, and a mechanic from the State Department of Transportation. Those teams completed their mission September 14.
  
• On September 7, New Jersey sent its first massive task force to New Orleans, comprised of 153 police officers from across the state and 36 hazmat personnel from Essex, Union and Morris counties. Most of those personnel returned to New Jersey when their replacements arrived from the September 17 and 18 deployment.
  
• Also on September 7, the State sent to New Orleans five decontamination units comprised of 36 hazmat personnel from Essex, Union and Morris counties. All but about five of those personnel returned to New Jersey as their replacements arrived from the September 17 and 18 deployment.
  
• On September 13, the State sent to Louisiana two hazmat teams comprised of 12 technicians from the Trenton and Cherry Hill fire departments. Those deployments lasted 10 days.
  
• On September 8 and September 14, the State sent a total of three donations management specialists to the State of Mississippi, to help the state determine what resources will be needed as the recovery continues.
  
• On September 17 and 18, New Jersey sent the second massive task force, comprised of 148 police officers and medical support personnel from across the state and 25 decontamination personnel. Most of those personnel will return to New Jersey when their replacements arrive from this week’s deployment.

Photos taken in and around New Orleans by New Jersey’s Operation LEAD members can be found online at http://www.njsp.org/lead/index.html.

Directed by Codey, the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management is standing by to provide additional fire, medical and other technical personnel and resources to the states affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, when those states request that help.

All such deployments are being made under the provisions of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) mutual aid agreement between the states.

To make these deployments possible, the State Office of Emergency Management, led by Colonel Fuentes, Lieutenant Colonel William Malast, and Major John Hunt, worked with groups representing the Department of Health and Senior Services, Department of Transportation, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, the State Fire Marshall, all 21 county offices of emergency management, all 21 county prosecutors and a host of other entities.

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