Regrettably, I find myself in a position once again needing to correct some non-factual information presented by County Executive Bob Cassilly in Monday’s Aegis article, “Sheriff, county executive argue over where Harford County’s mobile command center vehicle should live.”
First is the incredibly naïve claim that the mobile command center unit should be closer to where the calls are received. This comment is the antithesis of true public safety planning. There is a reason that there are police officers on patrol and fire stations in communities: to be closer to where the need is when the calls come in. No one wants an ambulance or a police car where the call comes in; they want emergency resources at their doorstep quickly. Using data and informed experience to pre-deploy resources is just good public safety.
Next, the executive’s either uninformed or intentionally misleading assertion that the location where he deployed the unit “is also where we have a team of qualified drivers with the required CDL license…” As I am made to understand, the county only has four people assigned as command unit operators, but just two confirmed with the necessary commercial license and CJIS certification, a requirement for command unit operators. For the record, the Sheriff’s Office has 14 trained, licensed and certified operators.
Then, Mr. Cassilly wants to make the outlandish claim that, as sheriff, I am not willing to work collaboratively in major emergencies. Fortunately, this claim is so easily dismissed as another false attack by Mr. Cassilly since, the one time – just once – that this command vehicle was needed for a non-law enforcement mission was during the fatal house explosion in Abingdon. In this incident, trained Sheriff’s Office operators had to respond to Hickory from the Southern Precinct to drive the unit back into the southern area of the county. The Department of Emergency Services’ (DES) trained operators were understandably needed elsewhere and, although a delayed response, Sheriff’s Office members brought the unit to the scene and maintained it operationally throughout the event.
These continual attacks on the Sheriff’s Office, whether it be defunding the Central Precinct and Training Academy or now moving the Joint Command Unit, have been deeply misguided and detrimental to effective public safety operations. I strongly hope this county executive will allow the professional commanders at the Sheriff’s Office and DES to make these decisions and stop his vindictive attacks that are not good for anyone in Harford County.
— Jeffrey R. Gahler, Bel Air
The letter writer is the Harford County sheriff.
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