The City of Tampa strives to be a leader in providing the latest in public safety technology. This year, the Tampa Police Department added a high-tech watercraft and is scheduled to receive a third Bell 407 helicopter in FY03. Tampa Fire Rescue received a new hazardous material truck and recently completed its automatic vehicle locator (AVL) project.

Both the marine craft and the police department's helicopter fleet are equipped with state of the art surveillance systems featuring infrared radar and night vision cameras. These enable officers to conduct surveillance operations over longer distances; better support patrol units in pursuit situations; and transmit live images directly to district police stations and command posts.

Tampa Fire Rescue's AVL project installed transmitters on all front-line and reserve fire engines and advanced life support (ALS) vehicles. Communications personnel can instantly view on their monitors the location of each vehicle and dispatch the nearest available unit. Emergency vehicles returning from other calls can be rerouted to new calls thus reducing response time.

Tampa Fire Rescue's Hazardous Materials Team (HazMat) acts as first responder to incidents where highly toxic or combustible liquids/gases are involved. Earlier this year, the team deployed its new HazMat truck, which accommodates the team and its special equipment, such as hazardous materials suits, air packs and monitors, radiation detectors and research materials.