News Publications

RaCERS staff attend christening of the Applied Science Center of Innovation and Excellence in Homeland Security (now named Morrelly Homeland Security Center) in Bethpage, New York. The Center, which will include City University of New York as a partner institution, will bring together industry, government, and academic researchers. The ceremony was attended by numerous elected officials, and Emergency Management Commissioners or Directors from the State of New York, Nassau, Suffolk, and New York City. Commissioner Sal Cassano, FDNY, gave the keynote address. The Center will be headed by John Jay alum Richard Rotanz.

Prof. Robert Till presented his innovative research utilizing eye tracking technology to better understand and document first responder activity and decision aids under simulated emergency conditions. He also presented his work on agent-based models for simulating emergencies in subway, stadium, and campus environments.

The October Conference, held in conjunction with an Advisory Board meeting, included presentations on incident management at the MOVE siege of 1985, and the Pentagon Attack of 9/11/01. Former Philadelphia Fire Commissioner William Richmond, and Steve Souder, then-Director of Emergency Communications for Arlington County, Virginia offered their first-hand experiences in these events. The audience enjoyed a moving and thoughtful discussion on elements of police and fire coordination in these two milestone events in American public safety history.

Erika de Guttry presented a comparison of US, Italian, and European Union (EU) approaches to management of disasters. Her presentation is also posted under our publications page.

RaCERS hosted its first visiting scholar. Erika de Guttry, (shown with James Manahan, Chief of Operations, FDNY) a post-graduate of the University of Pisa, holds a position sponsored by RaCERS, John Jay College. Her position is being hosted by the Fire Department of New York, where she is studying emergency incident planning. Ms. De Guttry studied legal and administrative aspects of response to disasters in Italy. She will be resident through October 2009.

RaCERS Director Charles Jennings attended briefings on the Center for Army Lessons Learned at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in June 2009. These briefings and discussions with CALL staff are being used to help refine RaCERS methodology for developing lessons learned for civil first responders.

June 3, 2009 – RaCERS faculty observe Empire '09, a full-scale exercise involving a radiological dispersal device in the Albany, NY area. The exercise, overseen by the New York State Disaster Preparedness Commission, involved local, State, and federal assets including the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC) and US Department of Energy.

This exercise was designed to simulate a bomb attack on a PATH train in the tunnel between the World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations. The exercise was jointly organized by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New York City officials. Numerous supporting agencies participated.

Audrey McMillan, a friend of the Center, donates “A Prayer for My Brother” by renowned aviation artist William S. Phillips.

The meeting included a dinner and all-day meeting the following day

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Chief of Department Sal Cassano, and others joined the Regenhard family and President Jeremy Travis of John Jay College for the announcement of the formation of the Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies. The event was attended by friends and colleagues of Christian Regenhard, as well as members of the emergency services community in the New York area. Visitors came from as far as Oakland, California for the event. NY1 news network coverage of the event.