<body><div>The City of Bridgeport was recently the recipient of the first of its kind grant and during Thursday’s Emergency Services Council meeting, a discussion took place on exactly what the funds are being used for.“We were the inaugural recipients of the State and Local Cyber Security Grant,” Emergency Services Director Tim Curry said. “We received $178,000 for a full-time, what’s called a SOC, which is a security operation center. It’s going to monitor our network for intrusion and nefarious actors.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2jirfb_0vlkbS6A00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2jirfb_0vlkbS6A00" width="600" height="450" ></figure>The State and Local Cyber Security Grant stems from an initiative President Joe Biden launched in 2022 for local and state agencies to harden cyber security.Curry said more financial assistance will eventually be coming the city’s way from FEMA to help with the damage caused by the floods in August of 2023.“Basically, everything we have is done and submitted except for the Thompson Drive slip,” Curry said. “The process is very lengthy, there is a lot of red tape and now that we have it done, the Disaster Relief Fund is critically low nationally, so FEMA has went to immediate needs only, which means we won’t get a check until congress replenishes that fund.“Eventually, we will get a check for a significant amount of money.”Curry as well as Interim Police Chief Doug Yost and Police Chief and Interim City Manager Mark Rogers all touched on the status of the new Police Department Building which is still in the design phase with a couple of locations as possibilities.“We’re still working on a couple of options,” Rogers said. “The city wants to make sure we do our best to utilize funding properly and for continuity and service throughout the city, we want to make sure we don’t alienate the Police Department from other departments.”Finding the ideal spot also applies to the status of the planned First Responders Memorial.“We don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” Rogers said. “Until we figure out where we are going to land at, it makes sense to be open-minded. It’s important to pick a place first then we can figure out how to utilize the space.”City Councilman and Emergency Services Council member John Wilson did say there is one thing the First Responders Memorial will have no matter the physical location is access.“We want to make sure its available 24/7,” Wilson said. “It’s not going to be locked in basement or in a room or a hallway of a building that’s closed after 4 o’clock. It’s going to be available and it’s going to be secure.”In his Police Department Report, Yost said they are still averaging about 400 calls a week and they are currently working to fill five vacancies.“We have three in the final phases of testing,” Yost said. “Once the new hires are made, we will have promotion exams. There will be a sergeant move up to lieutenant and a patrol officer move up to sergeant.”Bridgeport Fire Department Chief Phil Hart said they have filled a vacancy and the new firefighter is not on shift. Chief Hart said their call volume is about 14 calls per day and there is still one significant issue they are dealing with.“The problem we are encountering is we continue to see an extended wait period at the ER. Until we get off our cot and on theirs, it puts everybody in a bad position. When you have both ambulances there and both patients on our cots and a cardiac arrest or structure fire call goes out, we can’t just leave them there.”Hart added that this week has been especially tough with a wait time approaching 40 minutes.The Fire Department is also gearing up for Fire Prevention Week the second week in October. Hart said they have already had several schools reach out about tours and during the week they touch base with several 100 students.Two other events coming up in October are a Bridgeport Police Department hosted firearms class for outside agencies that will take place Oct. 1-2 and the Integrated Preparedness Workship that will be at 8 a.m. on Oct. 17 at the Bridgeport Conference Center.Curry said the Integrated Preparedness Workshop will bring emergency service representatives from the region together to help make sure they are on the same page.Another event discussed that doesn’t have a time or date yet will be a new venture for the community with the Police Department.“We’ve been very fortunate when we get funding for National Night out we have some left that is designed for community engagement,” Rogers said. “We’re going to cook some hamburgers and hot dogs and have the community come in and meet some of the officers.”More on the Meet the Police cookout when details become finalized.Editor's Note: Photo from Thursday's Emergency Servies Council meeting.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

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Use of State and Local Cyber Security Grant Discusses at Emergency Services Council Meeting

The City of Bridgeport was recently the recipient of the first of its kind grant and during Thursday’s Emergency Services Council meeting, a discussion took place on exactly what the funds are being used for. “We were the inaugural recipients of the State and Local Cyber Security Grant,” Emergency...