The stations, staffed by community volunteers, will be based in buildings, school buses and privately owned vehicles at predetermined locations throughout the city. According to the police department web site, stations will be activated within three hours of a citywide telecommunications disruption. The city has designated its high school, which has an emergency power generator, as an emergency shelter. People working at the shelter, like the police ministations, will be citizens of Hudson, donating their time through the city's Voluntary Involvement Program. Other program positions could include working as a dispatcher, security officer or medical aide.
Applicants fill out a form to describe their skills and interests.
Brown has set up a meeting in September with all volunteers to give them more information. Currently about 35 applications have been submitted. Brown hopes to have as many as 200 volunteers signed up by autumn. The department will step up its normal patrol of 4 or 5 officers to 10 officers, each working 12-hour shifts, to maintain increased coverage continuously from 6 a.m. on Dec. 31 through the morning of Jan. 4. The safety of Hudson's citizens is worth the added cost in overtime pay, Brown said.