Gentry considers EM group

Emergency response group would assist police, respond to disasters

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

— GENTRY - An emergency management group could be formed in Gentry to assist in the event of critical incidents, disasters and other events if a proposal made by Gentry Police Chief Keith Smith to the Police and Safety Committees on Jan. 17 becomes reality.

Smith said the city used to have a civil defense group to help and organize responses to natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism and other emergencies. He showed committee members a portion of city code defining and outlining the duties and responsibilities of such a group.

He also said the city has often received assistance from Siloam Springs’ Department of Emergency Management volunteers in matters like traffic control at accidents and events, and weather spotting.

Smith’s proposal is to rework the existing ordinance to redefine the group, its duties and a chain of command.

Smith suggested the group begin with about five trained and experienced volunteers, increasing to about 10 over time. He said the group’s purposes would include weather spotting, assisting in large critical events, organizing civilian relief efforts, helping with traffic and crowd control at city activities, and possibly developing a neighborhood watch program and helping to supervise community service workers.

Smith also said the group would work together with other local and state DEM groups and could be called upon to assist in other jurisdictions.

Smith said the cost to the city would be minimal - providing safety vests and caps with a citydesigned insignia and possibly some radios. He said, in most cases, the volunteers would use their own vehicles and purchase their own equipment.

He said communication with police and fire departmentswould probably be by radio or cell phone, and discussed the use of radio frequencies which might be an option for use, adding that a new trunking system which is proposed to go into use in 2013 may make many of the radios and frequencies obsolete.

Smith said he thought the group needed to be subordinate to the police department and under police supervision. He suggested having one of

his sergeants oversee the

group and allowing the

group to elect its own of

ficers (subject to police

department veto) to estab

lish a chain of command

within the group.

Committee members

voiced their approval of

the proposal and said

they saw the benefits of

restarting such a group in

Gentry.

Allowing time for study,

planning and ordinance

changes, Smith antici

pated such a group could

be formed in about a year’s

time. He said he already

has some interested in be

ing a part of the group.

News, Pages 1 on 01/25/2012