Westmoreland public safety to get high-tech mobile command center

Westmoreland County commissioners this week are expected to approve the $516,000 purchase of a new, high-tech mobile command center for emergency responders.

The 39-foot trailer will replace the existing command post, which has become outdated and in need of technological enhancements during its 14 years of service, according to county public safety Director Bud Mertz.

“What we have now is basically just a radio on wheels. It's like a house on wheels,” Mertz said.

The new unit, which is expected to be delivered in May, will have a larger work area and enhancements that will give emergency response crews access to digital information such as mapping programs as well as satellite communications, internet services and video monitoring capabilities.

Mertz said the new center will have all the latest bells and whistles, including three detachable components for video surveillance and satellite technology.

The mobile command center is dispatched throughout the county about four or five times a year to incidents such as major crime scenes and natural disasters, Mertz said.

Public safety officials saw firsthand that the mobile command center was outdated in late 2015 when it was taken to a crime scene in St. Clair Township, where police conducted a manhunt for a suspect in the fatal shooting of police Officer Lloyd Reed.

“That's when we realized we needed much more,” Mertz said.

The county borrowed money to purchase the mobile center a year later and finally added it to the 2018 budget.

The current unit, a 2002 model trailer, was put in service in 2004. Officials said it could be auctioned to help pay for its replacement.

Commissioner Ted Kopas said the purchase will enhance the county's ability to manage public safety responses.

“It's the right investment to make,” Kopas said.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.