New $850K 'Mobile Command Center' Rolls into Newark

Newark officials Monday revealed the city’s new mobile emergency operations center, an RV-style vehicle equipped to serve as a command post on wheels during crises ranging from natural disasters to terrorist attack.

“I’m just delighted Newark has become the model and the stellar example for the rest of the country in homeland security,” said Rep. Donald Payne Jr.(D-10th), speaking at the city’s combination police headquarters and emergency operations center on Clinton Avenue. 

Payne, who sits on Congress's homeland security committee, credited his father and predecessor, Donald Payne Sr., with helping secure the funds for the $850,000 vehicle. The mobile command center was paid for entirely with federal dollars.

“This is an extraordinary vehicle. It has proven capabilities to meet any crisis,” said Mayor Cory Booker.

Painted black and emblazoned with the seals of the city and the federal Department of Homeland Security, the command center contains communications equipment, a small conference room, computers, and a wide screen that’s a scaled down version of the wall screen in the city’s Clinton Avenue emergency center. The vehicle also boasts a satellite uplink.

Its similarities to the Clinton Avenue building are no accident: the mobile center is intended to be “an extension” of the facility in the event it’s somehow rendered unusable, said Keith Isaac, the city official in charge of homeland security and emergency management. The mobile command center is also meant to ensure “continuity of government” during a crisis, Isaac said.

Isaac and other officials consulted with the vehicle’s manufacturer, LDV Inc. of Burlington, Wis., in designing the mobile command center.

While the mobile command center will be based in the city, Booker said, he also added that it’s intended to be a regional resource.