Earlier this year, Sheriff Gahler and members of his Command Staff toured the new Harford County Mobile Command Center (MCC), as the finishing touches were being placed on this state-of-the-art public safety vehicle. Today, we are excited to announce the vehicle, a new joint Harford County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO)/Department of Emergency Services (DES) Command Vehicle has now been delivered and will soon be in service to support the citizens of Harford County during crisis and critical incidents.

The MCC, a 2022 Freightliner M2 Chassis with a Frontline Aluminum Custom Modular body, will be added to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office fleet to become the primary Command response vehicle. It will replace the aging 22-year-old Winnebago Adventurer that was retrofitted for our HCSO use as a command vehicle. The previous vehicle will be used as a reserve vehicle for times when more than one MCC may be needed or required for simultaneous deployments. Although a joint vehicle, both HCSO and DES fully recognize that this is a resource that is needed and used by law enforcement approximately 95% of the time.

During 2023, the current MCC was deployed on more than 50 operations to assist with a variety of incidents including barricades, missing person searches, multi-alarm fire investigations, protracted incidents, large event command, critical incidents, demonstrations, and training exercises. Over 73% of the police related emergency calls for service come from the southern portion of the County. Furthermore, in the last two years, the current HCSO Command Vehicle has been operationally deployed in the southern portion of the County 88.5% of the time. For the singular purpose of powering the MCC when it is not in use, County Executive Cassilly, via Facilities and Operations, recently approved and installed a $30,000 electrical support system at the HCSO Southern Precinct. This expenditure of taxpayer funds will help ensure timely responses during critical incidents and access to the vehicle via a facility that is staffed 24 hours a day, providing the best security and base of operations for the MCC.

Purchased for $1,598,645, from a local Maryland distributor, Atlantic Emergency Solutions, this new asset is outfitted with a DEJERO gateway network designed for public safety. This system will allow us network access virtually anywhere we deploy. It will allow the Sheriff’s Office to function on critical incidents utilizing the National Incident Command System. The all-aluminum body features a Night Scan light tower, 25KW generator, fully operational conference room, and six workstations that allow for multiple functions to be performed simultaneously. The original HCSO justification and funding request for a new MCC dates back to September 3, 2016, for the FY2018 budget year, as a proposed Capital Project. Although held for three budget years, County Executive Barry Glassman approved the Capital Project for FY2020.

Sheriff Gahler remarked, “two and a half years ago, previous County Executive Barry Glassman had the foresight to recognize that a new Mobile Command Center, with cutting edge technology was needed to meet the increasing demands of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and the public safety needs of the citizens we serve. Seeing this vision become a reality is an exciting moment for all who serve the public safety needs of the citizens of Harford County.”