Mangano Secures State Funds For Emergency Management Preparation & Training

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today announced that seven departments within Nassau County will share almost $5 million in state grants from the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES), to prepare for any possibility related to catastrophic events or terrorism threats.

Nassau will receive $2.35 million from the State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) and another $2.24 million from the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Grant Program to address everything from planning and training to mitigating and recovery efforts related to acts of terrorism and other catastrophic events. The grants will be administered by the Office of Counter Terrorism with the DHSES.

County Executive Mangano stated, “These grants will help the County coordinate its efforts while developing a comprehensive plan. “The reality of our world today is such that we must do everything possible to be proactive in relation to protecting our residents. These funds provide us the ability to coordinate first responder efforts and develop a comprehensive plan so that we are in a position to use all our resources in way that is most beneficial to protecting our residents.”

Departments including the Office of Emergency Management, Police Department, Fire Commission, Correctional Center, Public Works, Health Department and Medical Examiner will have a share of the $4.6 million.

The purpose of the UASI program funds is to address what is termed the “unique planning, organization, equipment, training, and exercise needs of high-threat, high-density urban area,” and assist them in developing the ability to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from acts of terrorism.

The SHSP grant supports the State Homeland Security Strategies and addresses the “identified planning, organization, equipment, training and exercise needs for acts of terrorism and other catastrophic events.” In addition, it supports the National Preparedness Guidelines, the National Incident Management systems (NIMS) and the National Response Framework (NRF).