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For Immediate Release:  
For Further Information Contact:
January 19, 2005

Office of The Attorney General
- Peter C. Harvey, Attorney General

 

Public Information Office
Roger Shatzkin
609-292-4791
NJSP
Capt. Al Della Fave
609-882-2000
ext.6514

 
 

New Jersey Urban Area Security Initiative Rapid Deployment Force to Help Provide Security for President’s Inauguration

TRENTON — New Jersey is sending a delegation of law enforcement officers from its Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Law Enforcement Task Force Rapid Deployment Force to help provide security at the January 20 inauguration of President George W. Bush, Attorney General Peter C. Harvey and State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes announced today.

The invitation to send a force came from Charles H. Ramsey, Chief of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Harvey said. Under the supervision of the U.S. Secret Service, the Washington, D.C. MPD is the primary police agency responsible for ensuring the security of the Inaugural Parade and other events. The UASI Rapid Deployment Team will be on duty in Washington from January 18 through January 21.

“It is an honor to New Jersey, to the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) and to these individual officers to be invited to provide security at the inauguration of a President,” said Attorney General Harvey. “It’s also an endorsement of the programs, such as the RDF, that we’ve developed as part of our federally funded Urban Area Security Initiative to better protect our citizens against potential acts of terror.”

“The Rapid Deployment Force was successfully mobilized during last summer’s Republican National Convention in New York City, in which RDF officers worked hand-in-hand with State Troopers to conduct inspections of trucks traveling into Manhattan,” said Col. Rick Fuentes, New Jersey State Police Superintendent. “We also called on the Rapid Deployment Force during this summer’s period of heightened Homeland Security alert for the financial sector in Northern New Jersey based on threats against the Prudential building in Newark.”

The UASI Rapid Deployment Force was established to provide rapid response capabilities for the law enforcement community in New Jersey, especially in the northeastern UASI region that comprises Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic and Union counties and the core cities of Newark and Jersey City. The force counts 1,000 officers from 135 municipal and county law enforcement agencies in the six-county UASI area, as well as a contingent of State Troopers. Captain Kenneth Mallette of the State Police’s Homeland Security Branch, Special Operations Section supervises RDF operations.

The UASI’s Rapid Deployment Force has been provided with standardized training in weapons of mass destruction awareness and operations, HAZMAT awareness and operations and Incident Command Systems. The RDF has also been provided with standardized equipment. The combination of standardized training and equipment allows the RDF to respond capably and safely to terrorist incidents, especially those dealing with chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive devices.

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