You may have seen this phrase about MAPC’s Homeland Security work:
“MAPC serves as the lead Statewide Fiduciary for the Massachusetts Homeland Security Planning Regions under a grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.”
Are you still wondering, “But what do they do??”
Here is a breakdown of our Homeland Security work in a nutshell:
As the statewide fiduciary for the Central, Northeast, Southeast and Western Homeland Security regions, MAPC has partnered with three other regional planning agencies across the state to provide planning and project management services for each region, each of which has a designated Advisory Council that serves as its policy making body.
The Councils are tasked with developing Regional Homeland Security Plans to ensure that grant funds and projects meet the specific growing needs of each region. Each council is comprised of volunteer members that serve a range of relevant public safety disciplines, including law enforcement, fire service, emergency management, public health, hospitals, emergency medical services (EMS), public works, transportation, corrections, and local government administration.
Planning Agency support at any time can include planning, budgeting, project development, project management and facilitation, reporting and administrative services, and conducting contracting and vendor procurement services for each region.
At this point, you might be saying to yourself, “Wait, MAPC Homeland Security staff work with other RPAs and the councils on a daily basis…which ones?”
Statewide Homeland Security Team Regional Planning Agency Partners and regions are comprised of the following:
• Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC): Central Homeland Security Region
• Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG): Western Homeland Security Region
• Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC): Northeast Homeland Security Region
• Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD): Southeast Homeland Security Region
On any given day, MAPC works with these agencies and individuals to managing a variety of projects that include purchasing communication and emergency equipment and shelter supplies, reviewing safety plans, and organizing trainings and exercises for first responders. MAPC works to ensure that projects are collaborative to better prepare for large scale emergencies, as well as completed within federal funding guidelines.
Current projects include:
• Emergency Equipment: MAPC recently completed a purchase of large generators for the Northeast Region’s three Regional Cache Sites. This equipment will be used if a permanently installed backup generator at a facility such as a hospital, city/town hall, or shelter were to fail.
• Interoperability Advancements: Efforts to connect several Fire Control Points in the Northeast Region to the Commonwealth’s CORE interoperability infrastructure are currently underway. Control Points serve as communications centers for the coordination of mutual aid response involving fire and EMS services. Connecting this system to the CORE will achieve interoperability between the control points and also redundancy in operations.
• Specialized Teams Training: NERAC (the Northeast Region) has been collaborating with the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) to develop a Type 3 Incident Management Team (IMT) over the past several months in an effort to provide advanced management and organizational methods to municipalities or groups of municipalities when their existing personnel resources are insufficient for a particular incident.
With MAPC providing a leadership role, RPAs across the state are working with first responders to make Massachusetts a safer place to live and work.
– Amy Reilly, Homeland Security Manager