1 of 12
Erica Techo
Homewood Fire Chief John Bresnan discusses fire prevention and safety at the February Homewood Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon.
2 of 12
Erica Techo
Chamber executive director Meredith Drennen, Police Chief Tim Ross, Fire Chief John Bresnan, Jefferson County EMA director Jim Coker and chamber president Mike Brandt at the February Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
3 of 12
Erica Techo
Andy Tolar and Joshua Carnes at the February Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
4 of 12
Erica Techo
Claire Griffith, Bobby Norman, Shannon Drake, Al Wood and Ashley Page at the February Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
5 of 12
Erica Techo
Kelly Moore, Laura Wilson and Jackie Torrence at the February Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
6 of 12
Erica Techo
Meredith Drennen, Mike Brandt and Bill Todd at the February Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
7 of 12
Erica Techo
Alec King, Cody Robinson, Rachel Reynolds, Hudson Pitts and Claire Owens at the February Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
8 of 12
Erica Techo
Jefferson County EMA director Jim Coker speaks at the February Homewood Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon.
9 of 12
Erica Techo
Kristin Sullivan, Linda Allison and Chuck Price at the February Homewood Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon.
10 of 12
Erica Techo
Natalie Smith, Sarah Clark, Tammy Griffin and Tarrie Love at the February Homewood Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon.
11 of 12
Erica Techo
Richard Danner, Sloane Rhoden and Kelly Sturwold at the February Homewood Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon.
12 of 12
Erica Techo
Jefferson EMA director Jim Coker, Fire Chief John Bresnan and Police Chief Time Ross at the February Homewood Chamber of Commerce membership luncheon.
Business owners received fire prevention and safety tips at this month’s chamber luncheon.
The February Homewood Chamber of Commerce luncheon featured an emergency response panel with Police Chief Tim Ross, Fire Chief John Bresnan and Jefferson County Emergency Agency director Jim Coker. Paul DeMarco moderated the panel, which covered safety steps businesses can take as well as steps public safety departments take.
Ross said as the new Homewood Police Chief, he has a few projects he plans to tackle. One of those is making sure the police department is fully staffed.
“We have been working a little short-handed for several years here,” he said. “It is a difficult time, as you can imagine, to recruit and retain police officers.”
Since becoming police chief, Ross has promoted two lieutenants and three sergeants, and he plans to hire more police officers and support staff.
“If we can do that, we will be fully-staffed and be better able to serve this community the way it needs to be served,” Ross said.
The department will also implement this year new software to assist in crime prevention, Ross said. The software, PredPol, utilizes crime data to help predict locations where crimes may occur. Ross said the software will allow the department to allocate resources where they are most needed.
“I think that we’ll see a significant reduction in crime as a result of that software,” Ross said.
Overall, Ross said the city of Homewood is a relatively quiet area and does not see much criminal activity, but he gave chamber members a few tips to protect themselves and their businesses.
To target harden their businesses, Ross suggested Homewood residents always call the police if they see something suspicious. Having police on the scene for a non-incident is better than missing out on information because someone did not call police, he said. Locking doors during business hours, especially back entrances, and receiving site security assessments from the police department are also steps Ross suggested.
Ross said in the future, he also hopes to provide business owners with training for active shooter situations. About 20 percent of active shooter events are stopped by a civilian before police arrive on scene, and Ross said it is important for Homewood residents and business owners to be prepared just in case.
In regard to fire safety, Bresnan said Homewood benefits from residents who know when to call 911. People acting quickly in the face of a fire helps prevent losses, he said. Bresnan also said that fire prevention officers at Homewood FD help limit fires through regular inspections at Homewood businesses.
“As far as I know, there is nothing on fire in Homewood right this minute,” Bresnan said. “So our fire prevention staff is doing a whale of a job.”
When fire prevention staff comes out to a business and tells them to get rid of certain extension cords or a space heater, Bresnan said their intention is not to interrupt business, but to use past fire data to prevent future incidents.
“Our primary objective there is to limit the fires in Homewood,” he said.
Rather than individual safety measures, Coker discussed what Jefferson EMA has done to keep the county and the city of Homewood safer during emergencies. Coker said they have started to utilize social media and mobile communications to better serve the public.
“We used to be very inward-focused. Now we’re very outward-focused,” he said.
One mobile technology system Jefferson County EMA is making available to its cities will allow residents to receive alerts about local events. Coker said city officials can use the service to send text message alerts about road closures or other event updates.
“Now you have reached out to your citizens, you’re making things more convenient for them,” he said. “You’re disrupting them less.”
Coker also discussed Jefferson County EMA’s participation in the 2021 World Games. Planning has already started for the event, and he said there is still plenty of planning to go.
“It’s not that we have five years to get ready for it, it’s that we only have five years to get ready for it, so we are not waiting at all,” Coker said.
