9/11 changed emergency management dramatically

1 Continued from page A1the county s buildings weresecure. He remembers visit-ing the American Red CrossinCape May Court House andfinding it teeming with volun-teers busy with blood dona-tions. It was packed. People thatwere down on vacation thatwere Red Cross volunteersfrom throughout the countrycame in and they were man-ning the phones. It was agreat sight to see people wereengaged to try to help, Plousis said around 2 day, the New York PoliceDepartment and PortAuthority requested assis-tance from outside May County Sheriff sOffice sent 10 officers to NewYork to assist. He said theofficers went to a staging areaat Liberty State Park, whichwas inundated with volun-teers. Once they put out thatbroadcast, people literallyfrom around the countrywere coming in to help some people innorthern New Jersey gotthere faster than we did, Plousis said 9/11 altered theway law enforcement agen-cies communicated with eachother.

2 He said since theattacks, law enforcement atthefederal, state and locallevels now interact frequentlyand with greater effective-ness than in the past. All law enforcement atevery level changed dramati-cally after 9/11. I think any-body traveling or downinganything today realize wehave taken extra s not only at the airport butlocal and federal courthousesand other vulnerable possibletargets. Everybody has seenthe ramping up of physicalsecurity in all of those facili-ties, Plousis said. Plus,there s passive security in allthose facilities that the publicdoesn t see. According to Plousis, thebroken communicationbetween agencies before 9/11made it difficult for agenciesonseveral levels to shareinformation. He said improv-ing communication graduallyimproved in county, state andfederal levels. After 9/11 the parochial-ness between the differentlaw enforcement agencieshas changed .

3 There s defi-nitely positive informationsharing all the way down. Plousis said he attended ameeting in Washington, days after 9/11 with then-attorney general Ashcroft andvarious sheriffs and policechiefs. He said Ashcroftpledged to improve communi-cation between law enforce-ment partners. One of these improvementsis the Joint Terrorism TaskForce, present in 94 federaldistricts throughout the coun-try. Plouis said the task forceis comprised of local, county,state and federal law enforce-ment who meet and exchangeinformation on possible ter-rorist activity. We have the mechanism toget that information from thelocal policeman up to the FBIand vice versa, he United StatesDepartment of HomelandSecurity, created in 2002 as aresponse to 9/11, responds todomestic emergenciesincluding terrorism and otherdisasters.

4 Homeland Securityalso works with local lawenforcement agencies toshare information and issuealerts on various said following 9/11,law enforcement has taken amore pro-active instead ofreactive response Prior to 9/11 it was veryodd we would get alerts orinformation from HomelandSecurity or FBI or other fed-eral entities. Now there songoing communications,both electronically and per-sonal contact. Ten years outwe have a more seamless sys-tem of law enforcement in theUnited States, Plousis serving as Cape MayCounty Sheriff, Plousis wasappointed as United StatesMarshal for the State of NewJersey. As a marshal, he saidone noteworthy terrorismcase was the Fort Dix 2007, a group of six radi-cal Muslim men plotted toattack military personnel atFort Dix, gaining access tothe base in the guise of pizzadelivery men.

5 The men, whowere based in Cherry Hill,videotaped their weaponstraining in the Poconos andtook the tapes to a CircuitCity to have them transferredinto DVDs. The store clerk transferringthe tapes notified local police,who called the JointTerrorism Task Force. Theinvestigation resulted in thetrial and conviction of fivemen who conspired to attackFort Dix. It was a good example ofcitizen involvement and locallaw enforcement feeding theinformation to the properauthority resulting in anarrest and conviction, Plousis from page A1 LPG would be suitable fornatural gas. Regarding an existing sup-ply of LPG in the homeown-er s tank, residents wereadvised they could continueto use LPG until their supplyand/or contract ran to Andrews, theycan have dual fuel supplies intheir homes, running sepa-rate appliances off propane,while using natural gas forothers.

6 He said it mightrequire separate lines, how-ever. Gordon said South JerseyGas would like to have cus-tomers hook up with naturalgas service within threemonths after applying, how-ever, they would be able toextend the time for peoplewho have contracts with LPGsuppliers. As long as you pay the(SJGas) customer charge youwill be OK, Gordon said. Asked about where mainswould be installed first,Gordon said the particularsequence has not beenworked out, yet. There is anoverall design, but the streetswould be determined after allthe applications are in, sothey can see where the high-est demand is. However, hesaid construction wouldbegin in October and all themains would be laid within ayear. Customers would beupdated on the progress ofthe construction and toldwhen they could expect gasservice as the project asked what kindof lead time they needed togive a contractor, but the gascompany representativescould only say they wouldnotify customers when themains would be coming downtheir customer asked about thespotting of gas meters, sincemany homeowners leave thePoint in the winter.

7 Gordonsaid the location could beidentified in advance of con-struction. South Jersey Gasalso has a list of preferredcontractors who have specificcertifications and are okayedby the state, Gordon said. 7 OCEANSTREET CAPEMAY,NJ 609-884-5555 OPENDAILYSERVINGBREAKFAST,LUNCH,DINNER4- CourseBeerDinnerSponseredbytheMidAtlanti cCenterfortheArtsTuesday,September20th@6 pm$65perperson reservationsamust! #1 RioGrande,NJ08242 AdditionalPricingfor3 DFeatures24 HourMovieHotline(609)889-0888 Showsin()Friday&SaturdayOnly**THELIONKIN G3DG12:30,2:40,4:50,7:00,9:20**STRAWDOGS R12:00,2:30,5:00,7:30,10:00**DRIVER12:20 ,2:50,5:10,7:40,10:05**CONTAGIONPG-1312: 15,2:35,4:55,7:20,9:50**WARRIORPG-1312:0 0,3:10,6:50,9:45 THEHELPPG-1312:10,3:20,6:30,9:30 OURIDIOTBROTHERR12:35,5:05,7:10 DON'TBEAFRAIDOFTHEDARKR2:45,9:40 SHARKNIGHT3 DPG-139:55 THESMURFS2 DPG12:25,2:55 RISEOFTHEPLANETOFTHEAPESPG-135:15,7:35 HARBOR527196thStreet StoneHarbor,NJ0824724 HourMovieTimes(609)398-4747 NOWFEATURINGEXPERIENCEREELMOVIES REELPRICES REELVALUEOURIDIOTBROTHERR4:30(9:15)COLUM BIANAPG-136:50 CRAZY,STUPIDLOVEPG-134:10,6:45(9:00)SARA H'SKEYPG-134:20,7:05,(9:10)THEHELPPG-134 :00,7:00 ONEDAYPG-134:15,7:10(9:05)Dinner & Cocktails Nightly from 5:00 George Mesterhazy on Piano from 5:30 Trio Tuesday from 8.

8 30 Bird / Night Owl Menu from $ Dinner Served all night $ Decatur St. & Columbia Ave Cape May Reservations: or ,DINNER&LATENIGHTNowOfferingaCompleteGlu ten-FreeMenuFromAppetizerstoDessertsSUND AY BREAKFAST 8AM - 1 PMLUCKYBONESTOGOE njoyourentiremenutopickup609-884-2663 Call in your order andwe will have i twai ting for you!(ISSN 519-020), Volume 157 Number weekly by Sample Media, Inc., 112 E. 8thSt., Ocean City, 08226. Subscription price inCape May County $22; East of the Mississippi $25;West of the Mississippi $29. Periodicals Postage atPleasantville, and additional mailing : Please send address changes to theCape May Star and Wave, 600 Park Ave., #28, WestCape May, Years Old1854-2011 PlousisGasHAVE SOMETHINGON YOUR MIND?PUT IT IN A LETTERTO THE EDITOR OFTHE CAPE MAYSTAR AND WAVEFax letters to: 609-884-2893 Email to: your name,address, , September 14, 2011By ERIC AVEDISSIANCape May Star and WaveCAPE MAY COURTHOUSE On the bright,clear morning of Sept.

9 11,2001, Cape May CountyEmergency ManagementDirector Frank McCall wasin Trenton with Ocean CityPolice Department sCommunications SupervisorKathleen Huffard at therequest of then Gov. DonaldDeFrancesco to receive anaward for 911 dispatchers. Such an event is common-place in government, a fewshort speeches, some photos,back patting and was not to be that day. McCall said during the cer-emony, cell phones startedringing and talk turned to some kind of aircraft raninto the World TradeCenter. When it became apparentthat a second airplane pum-meled the World TradeCenter, McCall said the StateTroopers assigned to thegovernor s security unitescorted DeFrancesco fromthe building terrorist attacks wouldstun the world, and changethe way McCall and emer-gency management officialsacross the nation wouldinteract with other govern-ment agencies.

10 McCall said ironically theCape May CountyEmergency ManagementOffice conducted a full-scaleexercise on the WoodbineAirport on June 13, 2001 thatdealt with an airplane crash-ing into buildings. McCallsaid the exercise included1,000 participants includingFirst Responders, the countymedical examiner, HazMatand crisis counseling. He said the county becamea resource to the victims andemergency managementcommunity in New York Cityfollowing the 9/11 county deployed lawenforcement, fire and EMStask forces to New York,McCall said 9/11 changedthe emergency managementcommunity dramatically . Created in 2006, the of Homeland Security&Preparedness is taskedwith protecting the statefrom potential terroristactivity, shares intelligencewith law enforcement agen-cies, safeguards state infra-structure and develops plansfor emergency prepared-ness.