Bristol County Sheriff gives mobile command center to New Bedford police
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WJAR) — Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux is making some changes at the House of Corrections.
Just after 9/11, the Bristol County Sheriff's Office received a mobile command center to help organize first responders if issues arise.
While it spent most of its time in storage, it was occasionally used for things like natural disasters, police standoffs and crime scenes.
But under new leadership, the Bristol County Sheriff's department is ready to part ways with the vehicle, giving it to one of the largest police departments in the area.
"I am turning this over to the New Bedford police Department," Heroux said at a press conference on Wednesday.
For years, former Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson kept the vehicle and offered to help local departments patrol their streets.
Heroux said his leadership style is a little bit different so he doesn't really have much use for the vehicle.
"I'm trying to run a jail system; I really want to focus inwards. My predecessor Tom Hodgson was good about focusing on things outside of the jail system, he excelled at that. He was really able to capitalize on criminal justice issues outside of the jail system, I'm just a different administrator," Heroux said.
The New Bedford Police Department was happy to receive the keys to the vehicle.
Their first order of business is to get it registered with the city and to put the department's logo on it.
"We currently have a vehicle now which is older than this and much more out of date, the equipment and technology," said New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira.
New Bedford is now one of the few cities in the area that has their own mobile command center.
They plan to share it with other communities in Bristol County if anything comes up.