Niagara County adding new traffic barriers to event safety playbook

By Benjamin Joe

In a partnership between the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office and Niagara County Office of Emergency Management, two trailers of eight vehicle barriers each have been ordered and are expected to be delivered shortly, just in time for outdoor festival season in Western New York.

The barriers were bought with Homeland Security funds, NCSO Sheriff Michael Filicetti said, and are meant to be used to block streets during outdoor community events.

Filicetti pointed to the tragic event in New Orleans where people were killed by a “domestic terrorist” driving around and through more-conventional barriers as the reason for the increased security.

“Our goal is to enhance security as many ways as possible,” he said, noting light towers and other equipment kept by the county’s emergency department will also be on hand.

Filicetti also said trained sheriff’s deputies will be tightening up any safety protocols should any town, city or village ask for their expertise.

The steel barriers are from a company called Meridian Rapid Defense Group and are tested for “pedestrian areas, public events, construction zones and critical infrastructure areas” in regard to allowing passage by unauthorized vehicles.

Filicetti said that, while the barriers are very effective, they are also discreet.

“We want additional security, but we also want the outdoor festival, event or activity to still be appealing and comfortable for anyone attending,” he said.

Any municipality within Niagara County is eligible to use the new equipment and have its safety protocols retrofitted for community events by the NCSO.

In Wheatfield, Supervisor Don MacSwan indicated at a recent meeting he was looking forward to the safety addition.

“You see where a car could go rambling into a crowd, killing people? They are going to set up (a way) to help protect anybody in the park. It’s something new,” he said. “They have a kind of barrier, which can flip up and stop any car from getting through.”

MacSwan later said Wheatfield constables would meet with a sheriff’s deputy in May to improve security for the Town of Wheatfield’s 4th of July celebration at Oppenheim Park.

“We have huge crowds and you never know,” MacSwan said.

More information about the barriers can be found on the company’s website, https://www.betterbarriers.com/.