Middlesex County receives security funding

Middlesex County has received $316,965 in federal Homeland Security Funds to implement an identification system for first-responders and to complete federally mandated training.

About $124,000 of the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) funding will be used to create a countywide identification card system for the county's professional and volunteer first responders. The cards will be used when emergency personnel from throughout the county are deployed anywhere within the UASI region.

The county will use about $36,600 to continue to train first-responders, including county and local public works employees, on Federal Incident Command procedures.

Remaining UASI funds will be used to fund two positions within the county government that are mandated by the Federal Homeland Security Office.

The newly announced UASI funding is in addition to the more than $1.48 million in 2007 Federal Homeland Security grants Middlesex County received last August to implement county-specific security initiatives, including emergency communications upgrades, equipment, training and target hardening.