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Jupiter refines emergency operations center, adopts CrisisTrack and storm checklists for 2025 hurricane season
Summary
Police and emergency staff described upgrades to the town’s emergency operations center, new field reporting software (CrisisTrack) and an organized storm emergency response plan intended to speed damage assessment and FEMA reimbursement work.
Deputy Chief Don Hennessy of the Jupiter Police Department told the Town Council the town has added new tools and procedures to improve hurricane preparedness, damage assessment and cross‑agency coordination for the 2025 hurricane season.
Hennessy described the town’s emergency operations center (EOC), which now supports live news and weather feeds, traffic cameras, drone footage and damage assessment dashboards for real‑time decision making. He said the town implemented three EOC activation levels—level 3 monitoring, level 2 partial activation and level 1 full activation—to better scale staffing and operations and align terminology with county and neighboring municipalities.
The town has also implemented CrisisTrack software to let responders record roadways, downed trees, utility outages and other damage in the field. The system provides a graphical damage map for prioritizing resources and will help document staff and asset use for FEMA reimbursement, Hennessy said. Town staff are working with the vendor on additional automation to streamline forms and reporting.
Council members asked about personnel safety and where officers shelter during storms; Hennessy said decisions are storm‑specific but that staff typically make scalable staffing choices and may shelter officers in the community center or gymnasium space arranged with Parks and Recreation. He also said the town’s storm manual – a consolidated checklist of pre‑season and storm‑specific tasks compiled with department directors and staff – will be integrated with CrisisTrack and distributed in both electronic and paper formats.
Hennessy noted the town’s 2023 National Citizen Survey results: 87% of residents gave positive ratings for emergency preparedness. He told councilors the town is continuing to refine procedures and train staff and that it coordinates with hospitals and other partners as needed before and during storm events.
