Operation Urban Shield Has Concluded and All Involved Say It Was a Huge Success

Urban Shield – the simulated public safety exercise designed to test and enhance this region’s ability to respond to either a natural or manufactured emergency – is over and all who participated say the experience and opportunity to learn was invaluable. For those unfamiliar with the exercise – the operation, which lasted 24 hours, began at 8:00am Saturday morning (November 3, 2012) and concluded this morning, Sunday (November 4, 2012).

Said Mayor Thomas M. Menino, “This kind of training is vital for our first responders. They are on the frontlines when emergencies occur and we want them trained in the best ways possible to handle any situation.”

Said Deputy Superintendent Colm Lydon, “After speaking to all the participating agencies, the feedback has been wonderful. In fact, all who participated tell us that Urban Shield 2012 was an undeniable success and the opportunity to learn as a result of the challenges provided as seen in the simulated exercises was invaluable. And that’s exactly what we’re hoping to hear. Bottom line, our region is safer and better prepared because of this training.”

Organizers of the event are grateful and empathetic to any community member or resident who may have been inconvenienced during the training. Some community members may have heard simulated gunfire and observed officers responding to simulated emergencies. Throughout the exercise, the highest levels of caution and care were employed and adhered to and the vast majority of the exercises were conducted in cordoned-off areas so as to minimize the level of inconvenience felt by members of the public .

The exercises included first responders around the region including Boston, Brookline, Quincy, Revere, Cambridge, Chelsea, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals, UMass-Boston and the United States Coast Guard.