Monroe County Executive Jack Doyle has announced that specialized equipment to strengthen domestic preparedness against terrorism has been purchased and assigned to various local municipal agencies in accordance with a national program funded and sponsored by the United States Department of Justice.

As a result of the New York Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing tragedy, the federal government determined a need to train and equip local emergency responders to the threat of domestic terrorism in the United States. An initiative, formed under a Defense Authorization Bill passed in 1996, provides funding for the Department of Defense to enhance the capability of federal, state and local emergency responders in incidents involving nuclear, biological and chemical terrorism. Last August, County personnel received special training coordinated by a federal interagency team comprised of representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Defense.

In September of 1999, Monroe County submitted a grant application to the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain specialized equipment in support of the domestic preparedness initiative. The equipment purchased and assigned to various agencies across the county includes encryption radios that are secure from eavesdroppers, specialized bomb suits, chemical warfare detectors, disposable tyvek suits, level A and level B encapsulated suits, butyl rubber gloves, chemical resistant boots and chemical canister masks.

The specialized equipment provides emergency personnel with an improved capacity for chemical detection and greatly improved personal protection during a hazardous materials cleanup or similar emergency.