PRESS RELEASE

 

County Wide Emergency Response Planning

 

(Marietta, Ga. – April 26, 2007) Leadership from law enforcement agencies across Cobb County met today as part of an ongoing effort to be prepared for crisis situations. The meeting, hosted by Cobb’s Department of Public Safety and Sheriff’s Office, included representatives from the county school system, area colleges, city and county police departments. The group discussed response plans and the importance of continuing to work together on behalf of the community.

 

Participants at the meeting have been planning and operating together for several years as part of county wide disaster preparedness efforts. These agencies have worked together effectively during several emergency responses including the flooding from Hurricane Dennis and the airlift of evacuees into Dobbins Air Base following Hurricane Katrina. Additionally, each of the represented agencies has operated as part of emergency preparedness drills held in the county.

 

At today’s meeting the group agreed to work together to review and evaluate  emergency preparedness plans for an emergency response to local schools and colleges. Two primary committees were established with one focused on response planning and the second on training responders.

 

These two committees will assess and if necessary develop new procedures and recommendations to enable multiple agencies to more effectively respond to major incidents in Cobb County. The groups will also be working on recommendations for preventing incidents at schools and colleges.

 

 Participating agencies included:

Acworth Police

Austell Police

Chattahoochee Technical College

Cobb County Public Schools

Cobb Emergency Management Agency

Cobb Department of Public Safety

Cobb Police

Cobb Sheriff’s Office

Kennesaw Police

Kennesaw State University

Marietta Police

Smyrna Police

Powder Springs Police

Southern Polytechnic State University

Contact: Robert J. Quigley 770-528-2485