New Castle County unveiled its brand new state-of-the-art Fusion Center at the Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Operations Center just south of Wilmington.
The joint information technology center will provide data - including crime tracking - in real time and utilize local facilities’ live camera feeds to better coordinate various emergency services in the event of a major incident.County Executive Tom Gordon says public safety workers need the best available data to do their jobs as best they can.
“This combines all of our technology together to make it one viewable, progressive predictability of where the crime will be, or where the terrorists will be or where the fires will be. It is futuristic but it also provides better safety and better response for the officers and the firemen on the street.”
The Fusion Center was dedicated to County Councilman and New Castle County Public Safety Committee co-chair Bill Bell.
Bell - as co-chair of the county Public Safety Commission - has continued to support technology upgrades that allow public safety workers to better perform their tasks.
Bell championed the new center – saying it’s critical to stay ahead of the technology curve.
“You can’t be a dinosaur. You’ve got to remember and stay focused and be a visionary. We’ve got to always be on the cutting edge, we’ve got to be mindful how important, how significant it is to be able to interconnect, inter-operate, share information.”
Bell was instrumental in bringing the 911 emergency system to the First State and served as Hollow Terrace Fire Chief from 1975 until 1986.
