Wilmette partners with Northbrook to fortify emergency response

Wilmette trustees showed they were on board with what village officials described as an opportunity to “improve the public safety of the community.”

The board approved a resolution during the Aug. 27 meeting authorizing the Village of Wilmette to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Village of Northbrook and the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy for a shared community resilience specialist.

According to a village memo, the Wilmette Police and Fire departments currently oversee Wilmette’s emergency management duties, but there is not a dedicated staff member who handles emergency management duties. Per the memo, emergency management and training “fall under the job description and duties of several police and fire department staff.” 

Wilmette Village Manager Mike Braiman told trustees during a brief presentation on the topic that the agreement is an opportunity “to improve the public safety of our community in a really cost-effective way without taking on any long-term financial burdens such as pensions.” 

Braiman added that the resolution is geared toward emergency preparedness, noting that officials have been in touch with representatives with Highland Park to take in information regarding how the city responded to the tragic mass shooting that took place during its Fourth of July parade in 2022. 

“We know we’re prepared to respond in the moment to an emergency,” Braiman said. “We need to do better preparing ourselves for the hours, days, weeks, months and years after the emergencies.

“This is an opportunity to partner with the village of Northbrook to bring in an expert in an emergency management and planning to make sure we’re 100 percent fully prepared to respond to an emergency but then really prepared at a community-wide level to respond after that emergency and keep continuity of operations but also caring for the community and the struggles that come from these difficult events,” Braiman continued. 

According to village documents, the community resilience specialist will be responsible for the management and oversight of a new pilot program that is designed to “provide dedicated expertise to Wilmette and Northbrook.” The position will be full-time for a pilot period of three years. 

Village officials also say that sharing a person in the position allows an opportunity to work with Northbrook to “understand each other’s emergency management plans, which would allow the sharing of staffing during large-scale community emergencies.” 

The total three-year cost of the IGA, per village documents, is estimated at approximately $200,000.

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