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Emergency Management outlines plans for 24/7 monitoring, Homestead staging and FIFA 2026 preparations
Summary
Pete Gomez, director of Miami‑Dade's Department of Emergency Management, presented goals including establishing a 24/7 operations watch, migrating to an integrated command and communications center, and using the Homestead Air Force Base reserve as a public safety campus while noting the department serves approximately 2.8 million residents.
Pete Gomez, director of the Department of Emergency Management, told commissioners that DEM’s mission is to protect, prevent, respond, recover and mitigate through coordinated stakeholder engagement. Gomez said DEM serves approximately 2,800,000 residents across incorporated and unincorporated areas and highlighted accomplishments including the department’s third accreditation and exercises and trainings prepared for FIFA 2026.
Gomez identified key operational gaps—most notably the absence of a dedicated 24/7 operational monitoring capability—and outlined priority initiatives: migrating to an integrated command and communications center, establishing a 24‑hour watch, expanding Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), and implementing a recovery assistance program funded through grants. He characterized the recently acquired Homestead Air Force Base reserve as a future public safety campus and logistics staging area for coordinated readiness.
