May 20, 2011 – The City of Cambridge Police and Fire Departments will be participating with neighboring agencies in an exercise which will simulate emergency events. The exercise, titled “Urban Shield Boston,” will be a continuous twenty-four hour event during which first responders are mobilized and deployed to a number of sites throughout the Metropolitan Boston Region.

Exercises at each of the nine sites will address infrastructure concerns as well as test the response of SWAT, medical, fire and explosive ordinance teams to critical incidents.

The Tobin School and the National Guard Armory have been designated as the Cambridge site for these exercises. The site will be operational beginning at 8:00 am on Saturday, May 21st and the exercises at this site will end at 8:00 am on Sunday, May 22nd. SWAT teams from participating agencies will be arriving during the operational time frame and will be tested on how well they navigate a hazardous material scenario.

The goals of “Urban Shield” are to provide a multi-layered training exercise to enhance the skills and abilities of our region’s first responders, as well as those responsible for coordinating and managing large scale incidents. This exercise is designed to identify and stretch regional resources to their limits and exercise incident command systems, while expanding regional collaboration and building relationships.

Please be advised that numerous safety precautions have been instituted at all sites during the operation phase and, while there may be some noise and/or gunshots heard, THIS IS ONLY A SIMULATION and no live ammunition or real hazardous materials will be allowed on-site during the drills.

The safety of the public and of our first responders is of paramount importance to the organizers of this event.

Anyone with questions about this exercise should call the Cambridge Police Public Information Office at (617) 349-3237.